Pair Production in a Time Dependent Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This paper estimates electron-positron pair production in a uniform, intense, and time-varying magnetic field, relevant to astrophysical environments, highlighting conditions where Landau level spacing exceeds particle rest mass.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical estimate of pair production in strong, time-dependent magnetic fields, a scenario relevant to astrophysical objects.

Findings

Pair production rate increases with magnetic field strength and variation.

Landau level spacing surpasses particle rest mass under certain conditions.

Astrophysical magnetic fields could facilitate significant pair creation.

Abstract

The production of electron-positron pairs in a time-dependent magnetic field is estimated in the hypotheses that the magnetic field is uniform over large distances with respect to the pair localization and it is so strong that the spacing of the Landau levels is larger than the rest mass of the particles. This calculation is presented since it has been suggested that extremely intense and varying magnetic fields may be found around some astrophysical objects.