Abstract
We show by experiment that an electron impinging on an electric field that is of critical magnitude in its rest frame, may produce an electron-positron pair. Our measurements address higher-order QED, using the strong electric fields obtainable along particular crystallographic directions in single crystals. For the amorphous material our data are in good agreement with theory, whereas a discrepancy with theory on the magnitude of the trident enhancement is found in the precisely aligned case where the strong electric field acts. © 2010 The American Physical Society.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 072002 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Physical Review D |
Volume | 82 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |