Pair production: the view from the lightfront

TL;DR

This paper provides an exact, gauge-invariant analysis of electron-positron pair production in complex electromagnetic fields varying with lightfront time, with implications for upcoming high-intensity laser experiments.

Contribution

It offers the first explicit, nonperturbative solution for pair production spectra in arbitrary lightfront-dependent fields, advancing theoretical understanding in strong-field QED.

Findings

Explicit probability of pair creation derived

Spectra of final particle yield calculated

Applicable to high-intensity laser experiments

Abstract

We give an exact, analytic, and manifestly gauge invariant account of pair production in combined longitudinal and transverse electromagnetic fields, both depending arbitrarily on lightfront time. The instantaneous, nonperturbative probability of pair creation is given explicitly along with the spectra of the final particle yield. Our results are relevant to high-intensity QED experiments now being planned for future optical and x-ray free electron lasers.