The generation of high-energy electron-positron pairs during the Breit-Wheeler resonant process in a strong field of an X-ray electromagnetic wave

TL;DR

This paper investigates the resonant Breit-Wheeler process in strong X-ray electromagnetic fields, deriving formulas for the cross-section and showing how resonance can greatly enhance pair production rates.

Contribution

It provides analytical expressions for the resonant differential cross-section of electron-positron pair creation in strong X-ray fields, highlighting the impact of the Breit-Wheeler energy on resonance enhancement.

Findings

Resonant differential cross-section depends strongly on the Breit-Wheeler energy.

Resonance can increase the cross-section by several orders of magnitude.

Analytical formulas for the resonant channels are derived.

Abstract

The Breith-Wheeler resonant process has been theoretically studied in a strong X-ray electromagnetic wave field under conditions when the energy of one of the initial high-energy gamma quanta passes into the energy of a positron or electron. These resonant conditions have been studied in detail. Analytical formulas for the resonant differential cross-section of channels A and B of the reaction are obtained. It is shown that the resonant differential cross-section significantly depends on the value of the characteristic Breit-Wheeler energy, which is determined by the parameters of the electromagnetic wave and the initial gamma quanta. With a decrease in the characteristic Breit-Wheeler energy, the resonant cross-section increases sharply and may exceed the corresponding non-resonant cross-section by several orders of magnitude.