2011/09/15 by Eric Akkermans, Éric Akkermans, Gerald V. Dunne · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #hep-ph #hep-th #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.108.030401
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 030401 (2012) · 5 pp, 5 figures
arxiv created 2011/09/15 · openalex publication_date 2012/01/18 · arxiv updated 2012/05/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Sequences of alternating-sign time-dependent electric field pulses lead to coherent interference effects in Schwinger vacuum pair production, producing a Ramsey interferometer, an all-optical time-domain realization of the multiple-slit interference effect, directly from the quantum vacuum. The interference, obeying fermionic quantum statistics, is manifest in the momentum dependence of the number of produced electrons and positrons along the linearly polarized electric field. The central value grows like N(2) for N pulses [i.e., N "slits"], and the functional form is well described by a coherent multiple-slit expression. This behavior is generic for many driven quantum systems.