Exact Z{sup 2} scaling of pair production in the high-energy limit of heavy-ion collisions

Journal Article · Sat May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999 · Physical Review, C

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.59.2753· OSTI ID:337584

Segev, B; Wells, J C ^[1]; Segev, B ^[2]; Wells, J C ^[3]

---

1. ITAMP, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States)
2. Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beer-Sheva 84105 (Israel)
3. Center for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6203 (United States)

The two-center Dirac equation for an electron in the external electromagnetic field of two colliding heavy ions in the limit in which the ions are moving at the speed of light is exactly solved off the light fronts, and nonperturbative amplitudes are obtained for free electron-positron pair production. We find the condition for the applicability of this solution for large but finite collision energy, and use it to explain recent experimental results. The observed scaling of positron yields as the square of the projectile and target charges is a result of a cancellation of a nonperturbative charge dependence and holds as well for large coupling. Other observables would be sensitive to nonperturbative phases. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}

• OSTI ID: 337584
• Journal Information: Physical Review, C, Journal Name: Physical Review, C Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 59; ISSN 0556-2813; ISSN PRVCAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
DIRAC EQUATION
ELECTRONS
HEAVY ION REACTIONS
PAIR PRODUCTION
POSITRONS
QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
SCALING LAWS