Critical Schwinger pair production II - universality in the deeply critical regime

TL;DR

This paper investigates the universal behavior of electron-positron pair production in inhomogeneous electric fields near criticality, revealing a new critical exponent and extending previous semi-classical results to deeply critical regimes.

Contribution

It extends the understanding of pair production universality from semi-classical to deeply critical regimes, identifying a universal critical exponent of 3 for localized fields.

Findings

Universal critical exponent β=3 for deeply critical regimes

Enhanced universality in pair production near criticality

Computed non-universal amplitudes for various field profiles

Abstract

We study electron-positron pair production by spatially inhomogeneous electric fields. Depending on the localization of the field, a critical point (critical surface) exists in the space of field configurations where the pair production probability vanishes. Near criticality, pair production exhibits universal properties similar to those of continuous phase transitions. We extend results previously obtained in the semi-classical (weak-field) critical regime to the deeply critical regime for arbitrary peak field strength. In this regime, we find an enhanced universality, featuring a unique critical exponent $\beta=3$ for all sufficiently localized fields. For a large class of field profiles, we also compute the non-universal amplitudes.