Pair Creation of Open Strings in an Electric Field

TL;DR

This paper calculates the exact rate of open string pair creation in a constant electric field, confirming known results in weak fields and revealing divergences near a critical field strength.

Contribution

It provides an exact computation of pair production rates for open bosonic and supersymmetric strings in an electric field, extending previous approximate results.

Findings

Rate matches Schwinger's result at weak fields

Diverges near a critical electric field strength

Applicable to both bosonic and supersymmetric strings

Abstract

We calculate exactly the rate of pair production of open bosonic and supersymmetric strings in a constant electric field. The rate agrees with Schwinger's classic result in the weak-field limit, but diverges when the electric field approaches some critical value of the order of the string tension. (Phyzzx file)