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Laser-generated pair production and Hawking–Unruh radiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2002

HEINRICH HORA ,
FREDERICK OSMAN ,
REYNALDO CASTILLO ,
MATTHEW COLLINS ,
TIMOTHY STAIT-GARDENER ,
WAI-KIM CHAN ,
MANUEL HÖLSS ,
WERNER SCHEID ,
JIA-XIANG WANG  and
YU-KUN HO
HEINRICH HORA
Affiliation:
Department of Theoretical Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
FREDERICK OSMAN
Affiliation:
School of Quantitative Methods & Mathematical Sciences, University of Western Sydney Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC 1797, Australia
REYNALDO CASTILLO
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Industrial Design, University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown 2460, Australia
MATTHEW COLLINS
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Industrial Design, University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown 2460, Australia
TIMOTHY STAIT-GARDENER
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Industrial Design, University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown 2460, Australia
WAI-KIM CHAN
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Industrial Design, University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown 2460, Australia
MANUEL HÖLSS
Affiliation:
Institute f. Theoretische Physik, Univeritat Giessen, Germany
WERNER SCHEID
Affiliation:
Institute f. Theoretische Physik, Univeritat Giessen, Germany
JIA-XIANG WANG
Affiliation:
Department of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
YU-KUN HO
Affiliation:
Department of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Abstract

Laser-produced electron–positron pair production has been under discussion in the literature since 1969. Large numbers of positrons have been generated by lasers for a few years in studies which are also related to the studies of the physics of the fast ignitor laser fusion concept. For electron–positron pair production in vacuum due to vacuum polarization as predicted by Heisenberg (1934) with electrostatic fields, high-frequency laser fields with intensities around 1028 W/cm2 are necessary and may be available within a number of years. A similar electron acceleration by gravitation near black holes denoted as Hawking–Unruh radiation was discussed in 1985 by McDonald. The conditions are considered in view of the earlier work on pair production, change of statistics for electrons in relativistic black body radiation, and an Einstein recoil mechanism with a consequence of a physical foundation of the fine structure constant.

Keywords

Relativistic easer effectsPair productionBeach holes
Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 79 - 86
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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