Schwinger Effect, Hawking Radiation, and Unruh Effect

TL;DR

This paper investigates the Schwinger effect in curved spacetimes, exploring its relationship with Hawking radiation and Unruh effect, and proposes a thermal interpretation of particle production in these contexts.

Contribution

It introduces a novel thermal interpretation of the Schwinger effect in curved spacetimes and analyzes differences between effects in near-extremal and non-extremal black holes.

Findings

Schwinger effect in curved spacetime can be interpreted thermally.

Differences identified between Schwinger effect and Hawking radiation in black holes.

Schwinger effect in near-extremal black holes factorizes into effects in AdS and Rindler spaces.

Abstract

We revisit the Schwinger effect in de Sitter, anti-de Sitter spaces and charged black holes, and explore the interplay between quantum electrodynamics and the quantum gravity effect at one-loop level. We then advance a thermal interpretation of the Schwinger effect in curved spacetimes. Finally, we show that the Schwinger effect in a near-extremal black hole differs from Hawking radiation of charged particles in a non-extremal black hole and is factorized into those in an anti-de Sitter space and a Rindler space with the surface gravity for acceleration.