# Multifaceted Schwinger effect in de Sitter space

## TL;DR

This paper explores the multifaceted Schwinger effect in de Sitter space during inflation, using the Schrödinger formalism to analyze particle production beyond adiabatic limits and examining quantum-classical transition features.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to defining particle content in curved spacetime, revealing diverse behaviors of the Schwinger effect under different conditions.

## Key findings

- Contrasting effects of electric field and expansion rate on particle number
- Quantification of quantum to classical transition during particle production
- Extension beyond adiabatic approximation in curved spacetime

## Abstract

We investigate particle production \`a la Schwinger mechanism in an expanding, flat de Sitter patch as is relevant for the inflationary epoch of our universe. Defining states and particle content in curved spacetime is certainly not a unique process. There being different prescriptions on how that can be done, we have used the Schr\"odinger formalism to define instantaneous particle content of the state etc. This allows us to go past the adiabatic regime to which the effect has been restricted in the previous studies and bring out its multifaceted nature in different settings. Each of these settings gives rise to contrasting features and behaviour as per the effect of electric field and expansion rate on the instantaneous mean particle number. We also quantify the degree of classicality of the process during its evolution using a "classicality parameter" constructed out of parameters of the Wigner function to obtain information about the quantum to classical transition in this case.