Electron-Positron Pair Production in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

TL;DR

This review summarizes the current understanding of electron-positron pair production in relativistic heavy ion collisions, focusing on ultra-peripheral collisions studied at various accelerators.

Contribution

It provides a unified overview of different methods and the current status of research in electron-positron pair production in high-energy heavy ion collisions.

Findings

Multiple methods have been used to study pair production.

Ultra-peripheral collisions allow studying pair production without strong nuclear interactions.

The review consolidates current knowledge and research directions.

Abstract

In recent years, a large number of papers have appeared that dealt with $\EPEM$ pair production in heavy ion collisions at high energies. To a large extent these studies were motivated by the existence of relativistic heavy ion accelerators all over the world. There pair production can be studied in so called ``ultra-peripheral collisions'', where the ions do not come close enough to interact strongly with each other. Various different methods have been used and it is the purpose of this review to present a unified picture of the present status of the field.