Modulation effect in multiphoton pair production

Abstract

We investigate the electron–positron pair production process in an oscillating field with modulated amplitude in the quantum kinetic formalism. By comparing the number density in the oscillating field with and without modulation, we find that the pair production rate can be enhanced by several orders when the photon energy just reaches the threshold with the help of shifted frequency due to modulation. We also detect the same effect in a pulse train with subcycle structure. We demonstrate that the frequency threshold can be lowered by the frequency of the pulse train due to the modulation effect. We also find that the momentum distribution for a N-pulse train can reach N2 times the single pulse at the maximum value and the number density as a function of pulse number follows the power law with index 1.6 when the modulation effect is maximized.

Keywords

• Pair production
• Modulation effect
• Pulse train