Hannover 2016 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 51: Quantum Effects: QED I
Q 51.3: Vortrag
Donnerstag, 3. März 2016, 11:30–11:45, f442
Simulating the Dirac equation in spacetime-dependent electric fields in band insulators — •Malte F. Linder and Ralf Schützhold — Fakultät für Physik, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstr. 1, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
The relativistic and quantum-theoretic description of electrons and positrons via the Dirac equation gives rise to many interesting phenomena. One prominent example is the Sauter–Schwinger effect, which is the nonperturbative pair creation in strong classical electric fields. However, this high-energy quantum effect is difficult to observe experimentally due to the largeness of the critical field strength ES ≈ 1018 V/m. Analogs of the Dirac equation can be found in condensed matter physics such as in band and Mott insulators, for example. These systems are well accessible in the laboratory and typically exhibit critical field strengths for the Sauter–Schwinger effect (one mechanism of dielectric breakdown) much smaller than ES. In this talk, we derive a 1+1-dimensional analog of the Dirac equation for conduction electrons in a band insulator from the underlying (nonrelativistic) physics. We especially point out in how far the (quantitative) analogy holds if the external electric field depends on time as well as on the space coordinate in a nontrivial way.