Heavy ion induced e⁺e⁻ pair production: Theoretical and preliminary experimental efforts

¹ Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77840, USA
² Department of Physics, Center for High Energy Density Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
³ School of Physics and Information Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
⁴ Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Catania 95123, Italy

^* e-mail: tdepastas@tamu.edu
^** e-mail: abonasera@comp.tamu.edu

Published online: 8 October 2024

Abstract

The production of real e⁺e⁻ pairs is an important quantum electrodynamics phenomenon, that could have significant implications on low energy heavy ion dynamics. Here, we employ an established Schwingerinspired theory to study this effect in nuclear disintegrations. We extend the current framework with a Monte Carlo approach to include non-perturbative contributions. Simultaneously, we supplement our study with a preliminary experimental procedure, via the use of the Global Spectrometer for Positron and Electron Characterization developed at the Texas Petawatt Laser facility of the University of Texas at Austin. Theory and experiment agree within one order of magnitude, which signals promise for further investigations.