Reduction of the Schwinger critical field via electron-catalyzed virtual-photon dissociation

Determine the extent to which the critical electric field strength Fcr required for electron–positron pair creation in vacuum, as given by the Schwinger mechanism, is reduced by heterolytic dissociation of localized virtual photons in the Casimir-polarized region surrounding an electron treated as an electromagnetic polaron that acts as a catalyst.

Background

The paper discusses the Schwinger mechanism, which predicts a critical electric field Fcr ≈ 4×10^16 V/cm for spontaneous electron–positron pair creation in vacuum. It then introduces the author’s EM polaron model, where an electron polarizes the electromagnetic vacuum and localizes virtual photons in a Casimir-polarized region near the electron.

Within this framework, the author argues that an external electric field can enhance dipole moments and an effective seed mass of localized virtual photons, potentially enabling their heterolytic dissociation into e+e− pairs with the electron acting as a catalyst. The unresolved question is how much this catalytic process reduces the Schwinger critical field relative to the standard value in uniform vacuum.