Researchers from the Institute for High Energy Physics of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in Moscow, led by Dr. Igor Aleksandrov, have published new findings on the behavior of vacuum states in strong electric fields. Their work, titled “Vacuum polarization and pair production in time-dependent electric fields: A quantum-kinetic-equation approach,” appears in the journal Physical Review Research.
The team’s investigation centers on the evolution of the vacuum state—essentially the lowest energy state of a quantum field—in the presence of a time-dependent electric field. Using a nonperturbative framework known as quantum kinetic equations (QKEs), the researchers derived and analyzed equations that describe how particles and antiparticles (such as electrons and positrons) are created from the vacuum under these conditions. This builds on their earlier work, where they developed a revised version of the QKEs using an adiabatic basis constructed from one-particle Hamiltonian eigenfunctions in a spatially homogeneous electric field.
In this study, the researchers computed several key observable quantities, including momentum-resolved particle yields, the induced electron-positron current, the energy-momentum tensor, and the angular-momentum tensor. These calculations provide a detailed picture of how vacuum polarization and particle pair production occur in strong electric fields. The team also addressed the issue of charge renormalization, a procedure necessary to remove logarithmic divergences that can arise in such calculations. Their results align with previous findings obtained using the Dirac-Heisenberg-Wigner formalism, reinforcing the theoretical foundation for studying nonperturbative effects in strong electric fields.
While this research is primarily theoretical, it has potential implications for the energy sector, particularly in understanding the behavior of matter and energy in extreme electromagnetic environments. For instance, the insights gained could contribute to the development of advanced particle accelerators or high-energy density physics applications, which are relevant for fusion energy research. The study provides a deeper understanding of fundamental quantum processes that could inform future technologies in energy production and manipulation.
Source: Physical Review Research, 2024.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.