Field-induced decay of the quantum vacuum: Visualizing pair production in a classical photonic system

Journal Article · Mon Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.81.022118· OSTI ID:21408190

Longhi, S ^[1]

---

1. Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano (Italy)

The phenomenon of vacuum decay, that is, electron-positron pair production due to the instability of the quantum electrodynamics vacuum in an external field, is a remarkable prediction of Dirac theory whose experimental observation is still lacking. Here a classic wave optics analog of vacuum decay, based on light propagation in curved waveguide superlattices, is proposed. This photonic analog enables a simple and experimentally accessible visualization in space of the process of pair production as breakup of an initially negative-energy Gaussian wave packet, representing an electron in the Dirac sea, under the influence of an oscillating electric field.

• OSTI ID: 21408190
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 81, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.022118; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
DECAY
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
INSTABILITY
LIGHT TRANSMISSION
OPTICS
PAIR PRODUCTION
POSITRONS
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
SUPERLATTICES
WAVE PACKETS
WAVEGUIDES
ANTILEPTONS
ANTIMATTER
ANTIPARTICLES
ELECTRODYNAMICS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
INTERACTIONS
LEPTONS
MATTER
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
TRANSMISSION