Dynamical derivation of a quantum kinetic equation for particle production in the Schwinger mechanism

Abstract

A quantum kinetic equation has been derived for the description of pair production in a time-dependent homogeneous electric field $E(t)$. As a source term, the Schwinger mechanism for particle creation is incorporated. Possible particle production due to collisions and collisional damping are neglected. The main result is a closed kinetic equation of the non-Markovian type. In the low density approximation, the source term is reduced to the leading part of the well known Schwinger formula for the probability of pair creation. We compare the formula obtained with other approaches and discuss the differences.

10 pages, LaTeX, no figures