Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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MP: Fachverband Theoretische und Mathematische Grundlagen der Physik

MP 10: Strong Fields

MP 10.4: Talk

Thursday, March 19, 2026, 14:30–14:45, KH 02.013

Matter from light: The Sauter-Schwinger effect — •Christian Kohlfürst¹, Naser Ahmadiniaz¹, Sebastian M. Schmidt^1,2, and Ralf Schützhold^1,2 — ¹Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstraße 400, 01328 Dresden, Germany — ²Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany

Strong electromagnetic fields can push even the quantum vacuum itself to its limits, forcing it out of equilibrium and triggering the creation of pairs of electrons and positrons. In this talk, we focus on the most extreme form of matter creation through light: the non-perturbative Sauter-Schwinger effect. In particular, we consider characteristic signatures in the particle distributions of the created electron-positron pairs and provide further context in terms of Relativistic Quantum Transport Theory.
[1] J. P. Edwards et al., Phys. Rev. D 112, L031901 (2025).

[2] C. Kohlfürst, Phys. Rev. D 110, L111903 (2024).

[3] C. Kohlfürst et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 241801 (2022).

Keywords: Strong Fields; Sauter-Schwinger effect