Properties of the electron-positron plasma created from vacuum in a strong laser field. Quasiparticle excitations

Abstract

Solutions of a kinetic equation are investigated which describe, on a nonperturbative basis, the vacuum creation of quasiparticle electron-positron pairs due to a strong laser field. The dependence of the quasiparticle electron (positron) distribution function and the particle number density is explored in a wide range of the laser radiation parameters, i.e., the wavelength \lambda and amplitude of electric field strength E_0. Three domains are found: the domain of vacuum polarization effects where the density of the e-e+ pairs is small (the "calm valley"), and two accumulation domains in which the production rate of the e-e+ pairs is strongly increased and the e-e+ pair density can reach a significant value (the short wave length domain and the strong field one). In particular, the obtained results point to a complicated short-distance electromagnetic structure of the physical vacuum in the domain of short wavelengths \lambda \lessim \lambda_{acc} = \pi/m. For moderately strong fields E_0 \lesssim E_c=m^2/e, the accumulation regime can be realized where a plasma with a high density of e-e+ quasiparticles can be achieved. In this domain of the field strengths and in the whole investigated range of wavelengths, an observation of the dynamical Schwinger effect can be facilitated.

Comments: 13 pages, 17 figures, references added, version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D