Ebook: Quantum Electrodynamics of Strong Fields: With an Introduction into Modern Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

The fundamental goal of physics is an understanding of the forces of nature in their simplest and most general terms. Yet there is much more involved than just a basic set of equations which eventually has to be solved when applied to specific problems. We have learned in recent years that the structure of the ground state of field theories (with which we are generally concerned) plays an equally funda­ mental role as the equations of motion themselves. Heisenberg was probably the first to recognize that the ground state, the vacuum, could acquire certain prop­ erties (quantum numbers) when he devised a theory of ferromagnetism. Since then, many more such examples are known in solid state physics, e. g. supercon­ ductivity, superfluidity, in fact all problems concerned with phase transitions of many-body systems, which are often summarized under the name synergetics. Inspired by the experimental observation that also fundamental symmetries, such as parity or chiral symmetry, may be violated in nature, it has become wide­ ly accepted that the same field theory may be based on different vacua. Practical­ ly all these different field phases have the status of more or less hypothetical models, not (yet) directly accessible to experiments. There is one magnificent ex­ ception and this is the change of the ground state (vacuum) of the electron-posi­ tron field in superstrong electric fields.

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XI
Introduction....Pages 1-25
The Wave Equation for Spin-1/2 Particles....Pages 26-58
Dirac Particles in External Potentials....Pages 59-91
The Hole Theory....Pages 92-111
The Klein Paradox....Pages 112-121
Resonant States in Supercritical Fields....Pages 122-173
Quantum Electrodynamics of Weak Fields....Pages 174-193
The Classical Dirac Field Interacting with a Classical Electromagnetic Field — Formal Properties....Pages 194-211
Second Quantization of the Dirac Field and Definition of the Vacuum....Pages 212-256
Evolution of the Vacuum State in Supercritical Potentials....Pages 257-299
Superheavy Quasimolecules....Pages 300-312
The Dynamics of Heavy-Ion Collisions....Pages 313-344
Experimental Test of Supercritical Fields in Heavy-Ion Collisions....Pages 345-388
Vacuum Polarization....Pages 389-414
Vacuum Polarization: Arbitrarily Strong External Potentials....Pages 415-430
Many-Body Effects in QED of Strong Fields....Pages 431-469
Bosons Bound in Strong Potentials....Pages 470-483
Subcritical External Potentials....Pages 484-498
Overcritical Potential for Bose Fields....Pages 499-519
Strong Yang-Mills Fields....Pages 520-549
Back Matter....Pages 573-596
Strong Fields in General Relativity....Pages 550-571

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Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XI
Introduction....Pages 1-25
The Wave Equation for Spin-1/2 Particles....Pages 26-58
Dirac Particles in External Potentials....Pages 59-91
The Hole Theory....Pages 92-111
The Klein Paradox....Pages 112-121
Resonant States in Supercritical Fields....Pages 122-173
Quantum Electrodynamics of Weak Fields....Pages 174-193
The Classical Dirac Field Interacting with a Classical Electromagnetic Field — Formal Properties....Pages 194-211
Second Quantization of the Dirac Field and Definition of the Vacuum....Pages 212-256
Evolution of the Vacuum State in Supercritical Potentials....Pages 257-299
Superheavy Quasimolecules....Pages 300-312
The Dynamics of Heavy-Ion Collisions....Pages 313-344
Experimental Test of Supercritical Fields in Heavy-Ion Collisions....Pages 345-388
Vacuum Polarization....Pages 389-414
Vacuum Polarization: Arbitrarily Strong External Potentials....Pages 415-430
Many-Body Effects in QED of Strong Fields....Pages 431-469
Bosons Bound in Strong Potentials....Pages 470-483
Subcritical External Potentials....Pages 484-498
Overcritical Potential for Bose Fields....Pages 499-519
Strong Yang-Mills Fields....Pages 520-549
Back Matter....Pages 573-596
Strong Fields in General Relativity....Pages 550-571
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