Polarization effects in the photon-induced process of electron-positron pair creation in a magnetic field, studied in the ultra-quantum-mechanical approximation

TL;DR

This paper derives analytical expressions for electron-positron pair creation probabilities in a strong magnetic field, highlighting how photon polarization influences the spin orientations of the created particles.

Contribution

It provides a novel analytical framework incorporating arbitrary photon polarization and spin effects in pair creation within a magnetic field.

Findings

Linear photon polarization significantly affects electron and positron spin orientations.

Analytical expressions for pair creation probabilities with arbitrary photon polarization.

Demonstrates the influence of polarization on spin dynamics in strong magnetic fields.

Abstract

The photon-induced process of electron-positron pair creation in a strong homogeneous magnetic field, provided that the polarization of particles is arbitrary, has been considered. The polarization of a photon is described in terms of the well-known Stokes parameters, and the relevant probabilities of the process turn out to have simple analytical expressions, which allows us to analyze the polarization and spin effects. A substantial influence of the linear polarization of a photon on the spin orientations of electrons and positrons has been demonstrated.