PT Journal
AU Navarro-Salas, J
   Pla, S
TI Particle Creation and the Schwinger Model
SO Symmetry-Basel
JI Symmetry-Basel
PY 2022
BP 2435
EP 9pp
VL 14
IS 11
DI 10.3390/sym14112435
LA English
DE Schwinger model; semiclassical theory; particle creation
AB We study the particle creation process in the Schwinger model coupled with an external classical source. One can approach the problem by taking advantage of the fact that the full quantized model is solvable and equivalent to a (massive) gauge field with a non-local effective action. Alternatively, one can also face the problem by following the standard semiclassical route. This means quantizing the massless Dirac field and considering the electromagnetic field as a classical background. We evaluate the energy created by a generic, homogeneous, and time-dependent source. The results match exactly in both approaches. This proves in a very direct and economical way the validity of the semiclassical approach for the (massless) Schwinger model, in agreement with a previous analysis based on the linear response equation. Our discussion suggests that a similar analysis for the massive Schwinger model could be used as a non-trivial laboratory to confront a fully quantized solvable model with its semiclassical approximation, therefore mimicking the long-standing confrontation of quantum gravity with quantum field theory in curved spacetime.
ER