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Optical lattice quantum simulator for quantum electrodynamics in strong external fields : Spontaneous pair creation and the Sauter–Schwinger effect

The spontaneous creation of electron–positron pairs out of the vacuum due to a strong electric field is a spectacular manifestation of the relativistic energy–momentum relation for the Dirac fermions. This fundamental prediction of quantum electrodynamics has not yet been confirmed experimentally, as the generation of a sufficiently strong electric field extending over a large enough space–time volume still presents a challenge. Surprisingly, distant areas of physics may help us to circumvent this difficulty. In condensed matter and solid state physics (areas commonly considered as low-energy physics), one usually deals with quasi-particles instead of real electrons and positrons. Since their mass gap can often be freely tuned, it is much easier to create these light quasi-particles by an analogue of the Sauter–Schwinger effect. This motivates our proposal for a quantum simulator in which excitations of ultra-cold atoms moving in a bichromatic optical lattice represent particles and antiparticles (holes) satisfying a discretized version of the Dirac equation together with fermionic anti-commutation relations. Using the language of second quantization, we are able to construct an analogue of the spontaneous pair creation which can be realized in an (almost) table-top experiment.

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Date Issued:
01.03.2012
URN:
urn:nbn:de:hbz:464-20180917-100136-1
DOI:
10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/035001
Language:
English
Type of Resource:
Text
Collection:
E-Publications
Dewey Decimal Classification:
530 Physics
Subject categories of the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie:
530 Physics
Hosting institution:
Faculty of Physics, Theoretical Physics
Info on primary publication:
New Journal of Physics 14 (2012) 035001; Published 1 March 2012
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funding:
The publication of this article was supported by the Publication Fund of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

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