Transient and pre-transient stages in field induced phase transition of vacuum state

Abstract

Evolution of modulus and phase of complex order parameter associated with field induced phase transition (FIPT) of the vacuum state interacting with time dependent Sauter pulse is studied to analyse different evolution stages of the order parameter e.g., quasi electron positron plasma (QEPP), transient, and residual electron-positron plasma (REPP) stages. By revisiting FIPT in presence of single-sheeted and multi-sheeted pulses, we attribute the transient stage to the nonlinear coupling in the differential equations governing the dynamics of the phase and the modulus of the order parameter. The appearance of the rapid oscillations in the modulus is shown to be associated with the abrupt change in the phase of the order parameter in the transient stage. FIPT is also studied for multi-sheeted Sauter pulse with linear and quadratic frequency chirp. QEEP stage is found to show complex dynamical behaviour with fast and irregular oscillations due to the frequency chirp. The formation of pre-transient region due to the quadratic frequency chirping is observed in the accelerating part of the QEPP stage before the electric field attains the maximum value. As the quadratic chirp is increased the pre-transient and transient stages move closer to the electric field maximum which leads to a decrease in temporal separation between the two stages. The early appearance of the transient stage and hence of the following REPP stage results in the enhancement of pair production rate.