On the Quantum Kinetic Approach and the Scattering Approach to Vacuum Pair Production

Abstract

For Schwinger pair production with background electric fields varying only in time, it is shown that the quantum kinetic approach, based on the quantum Vlasov equation, and the quantum mechanical scattering approach, are completely equivalent. This different perspective on the quantum kinetic approach suggests new approximation methods, which are tested in detail using a soluble pulse-like field configuration, and may give useful insight for generalization to more general electric fields, varying in more than 1 dimension.