Electron-Positron Pair Production in Structured Pulses of Electric Fields

Abstract: The non-perturbative electron-positron pair production in time-dependent electric fields is investigated. The quantum kinetic formalism is employed in order to calculate the electron density for various field configurations. The corresponding set of first order, ordinary differential equations is analyzed and numerically solved. The focus of this study lies on the dynamically assisted Schwinger effect in pulsed electric fields with at least two different time scales. Furthermore, interference effects arising in setups with multiple pulses are examined and first results for an optimization of the particle number yield by pulse-shaping are given.