Analog Sauter-Schwinger effect in semiconductors for spacetime-dependent fields

TL;DR

This paper explores how semiconductors can serve as laboratory analogs to observe the Sauter-Schwinger effect, enabling experimental tests of quantum field theory predictions involving spacetime-dependent electric fields.

Contribution

It demonstrates conditions under which interband tunneling in semiconductors mimics the Dirac Hamiltonian, facilitating experimental investigation of the Sauter-Schwinger effect.

Findings

Conditions for effective analogy between semiconductor tunneling and quantum vacuum phenomena

Potential to experimentally observe the dynamically assisted Sauter-Schwinger effect

Framework for testing quantum field theory predictions in laboratory settings

Abstract

The Sauter-Schwinger effect predicts the creation of electron-positron pairs out of the quantum vacuum via tunneling induced by a strong electric field. Unfortunately, as the required field strength is extremely large, this fundamental prediction of quantum field theory has not been verified experimentally yet. Here, we study under which conditions and approximations the interband tunneling in suitable semiconductors could be effectively governed by the same (Dirac) Hamiltonian, especially for electric fields which depend on space and time. This quantitative analogy would allow us to test some of the predictions (such as the dynamically assisted Sauter-Schwinger effect) in this area by means of these laboratory analogs.