$R^4$ corrections to holographic Schwinger effect

TL;DR

This paper investigates how $R^4$ corrections influence the holographic Schwinger effect in different backgrounds, revealing that increased inverse 't Hooft coupling enhances pair production and discussing potential links to viscosity-entropy ratio.

Contribution

It introduces the effects of $R^4$ corrections on the holographic Schwinger effect in both AdS black hole and confining D3-brane backgrounds, highlighting the impact of coupling strength.

Findings

No potential barrier at critical electric field indicates system instability.

Increasing inverse 't Hooft coupling enhances the Schwinger effect.

Discussion of possible relation between Schwinger effect and viscosity-entropy ratio.

Abstract

We consider $R^4$ corrections to the holographic Schwinger effect in an AdS black hole background and a confining D3-brane background. The potential between a test particle pair are performed for both backgrounds. We find there is no potential barrier in the critical electric field, which means that the system becomes catastrophically unstable. It is shown that for both backgrounds increasing the inverse 't Hooft coupling parameter $1/\lambda$ enhances the Schwinger effect. We also discuss the possible relation between the Schwinger effect and the viscosity-entropy ratio $\eta/s$ in strong coupling.