Angular Momentum Inheritance from the Schwinger Effect in (Chromo)electromagnetic Fields

TL;DR

This paper investigates how fermion pairs created by the Schwinger effect inherit angular momentum from background (chromo)electromagnetic fields, relevant to early heavy-ion collision stages, using theoretical models and quantum field formalism.

Contribution

It demonstrates the proportionality between the angular momentum of produced pairs and the background fields through both heuristic and quantum field theoretical approaches.

Findings

Angular momentum density of pairs is proportional to background field angular momentum.

The proportionality is shown using Wong's equations and out-of-equilibrium quantum field theory.

The results provide insight into angular momentum transfer in early heavy-ion collisions.

Abstract

The angular momentum of fermion pairs generated by the Schwinger effect is studied in homogeneous (chromo)electromagnetic fields, mimicking the early stages of a heavy-ion collision. It is demonstrated that the angular momentum density of produced pairs is proportional to that of the background fields. This is argued both heuristically in a virtual breaking condensate model by evaluating Wong's equations, and out-of-equilibrium to one-loop using the in-in formalism.