Pair creation in transport equations using the equal-time Wigner function

Abstract

Based on the equal-time Wigner function for the Klein-Gordon field, we discuss analytically the mechanism of pair creation in a classical electromagnetic field including back reaction. It is shown that the equations of motion for the Wigner function can be reduced to a variable-frequency oscillator. The pair-creation rate results then from a calculation analogous to barrier penetration in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The Wigner function allows one to utilize this treatment for the formulation of an effective transport theory for the back-reaction problem with a pair-creation source term including Bose enhancement.