École Nationale Supérieure de
Techniques Avancées

Abstract

After developing technologies that transform matter into energy, Schwinger's spontaneous pair creation (SPC) is one of the effects that try to transform energy into mass. Schwinger proposed a setup consisting of a super intense capacitor which should be able to bring electrons from the Dirac sea in the domain of positive energies. With the development of lasers and ever increasing peak intensities, the European Union implemented the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) which aims to verify Schwinger's claims using the world's most intense lasers. In this report, I paint a clear picture of the situation at ELI in regards to SPC. I discuss the theoretical background behind this effect and explain why ELI's experiments are expected to fail to provide significant insight on SPC. I present the Adiabatic Theorem and argue that it is the basis on which SPC is expected to happen, and why therefore it should be called adiabatic pair creation (APC). Finally I suggest an experimental setup that should avoid the problems that were identified earlier in ELI's setup.