Relativistic charged particles in the field of an electromagnetic plane wave in a medium

✍ Scribed by W. Becker

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1977
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 591 KB
• Volume: 87
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0378-4371
• DOI: 10.1016/0378-4371(77)90052-8

✦ Synopsis

Solutions of the Klein-Gordon and Dirac equation for a charged particle in the field of an electromagnetic plane wave in a medium with a constant refractive index n are discussed. Generally, for n2< 1, spontaneous pair creation from the vacuum, and for n2> 1, energy bands are observed. The interplay of Compton and Cherenkov scattering is discussed. Some doubts are formulated as to the physical relevance of calculating pair creation in a homogeneous electric field as it is usually done.