Abstract
We argue that the ``anomalous`` narrow peaks, seen in the e{sup +}e{sup -} spectrum of heavy-ion collisions, at energies near the Coulomb barrier, may be due to the fact that the effective coupling of the e{sup +}e{sub -} system to the coherent electromagnetic EM-field of the two nuclei, can be of order one at impact parameters comparable (or smaller) to the e{sup -} Compton wavelength. It is conceivable that the excitation of a large number of virtual and real pairs within a Compton volume could result in momentum correlations for the e{sup +} and e{sup -}, or even lead to a ``new phase`` of quantum electrodynamics (QED) with a different mass scale for the electron. The presence of similar anomalies in the e{sup +}e{sup -} spectrum of relativistic, but exclusively coherent, collisions of heavy nuclei, would support this idea and rule out any interpretation based on spontaneous emission from a supercritical QED vacuum. In addition, the use of e{sup +}e{sup -} interferometry could help in clarifying the crucial point of whether the emitted pairs stem from a new or the well-known phase of QED. (author).
Citation Formats
Papageorgiu, E.
Heavy-ion collisions and a new phase of QED.
United Kingdom: N. p.,
1992.
Web.
Papageorgiu, E.
Heavy-ion collisions and a new phase of QED.
United Kingdom.
Papageorgiu, E.
1992.
"Heavy-ion collisions and a new phase of QED."
United Kingdom.
@misc{etde_10109196,
title = {Heavy-ion collisions and a new phase of QED}
author = {Papageorgiu, E}
abstractNote = {We argue that the ``anomalous`` narrow peaks, seen in the e{sup +}e{sup -} spectrum of heavy-ion collisions, at energies near the Coulomb barrier, may be due to the fact that the effective coupling of the e{sup +}e{sub -} system to the coherent electromagnetic EM-field of the two nuclei, can be of order one at impact parameters comparable (or smaller) to the e{sup -} Compton wavelength. It is conceivable that the excitation of a large number of virtual and real pairs within a Compton volume could result in momentum correlations for the e{sup +} and e{sup -}, or even lead to a ``new phase`` of quantum electrodynamics (QED) with a different mass scale for the electron. The presence of similar anomalies in the e{sup +}e{sup -} spectrum of relativistic, but exclusively coherent, collisions of heavy nuclei, would support this idea and rule out any interpretation based on spontaneous emission from a supercritical QED vacuum. In addition, the use of e{sup +}e{sup -} interferometry could help in clarifying the crucial point of whether the emitted pairs stem from a new or the well-known phase of QED. (author).}
place = {United Kingdom}
year = {1992}
month = {Jun}
}
title = {Heavy-ion collisions and a new phase of QED}
author = {Papageorgiu, E}
abstractNote = {We argue that the ``anomalous`` narrow peaks, seen in the e{sup +}e{sup -} spectrum of heavy-ion collisions, at energies near the Coulomb barrier, may be due to the fact that the effective coupling of the e{sup +}e{sub -} system to the coherent electromagnetic EM-field of the two nuclei, can be of order one at impact parameters comparable (or smaller) to the e{sup -} Compton wavelength. It is conceivable that the excitation of a large number of virtual and real pairs within a Compton volume could result in momentum correlations for the e{sup +} and e{sup -}, or even lead to a ``new phase`` of quantum electrodynamics (QED) with a different mass scale for the electron. The presence of similar anomalies in the e{sup +}e{sup -} spectrum of relativistic, but exclusively coherent, collisions of heavy nuclei, would support this idea and rule out any interpretation based on spontaneous emission from a supercritical QED vacuum. In addition, the use of e{sup +}e{sup -} interferometry could help in clarifying the crucial point of whether the emitted pairs stem from a new or the well-known phase of QED. (author).}
place = {United Kingdom}
year = {1992}
month = {Jun}
}