On propagation of high-energy photon in a medium in presence of an external field

The polarization tensor is calculated which originates from interaction of a photon with the electron-positron field. The effects of multiple scattering of electrons and positrons in a medium side by side with an external field are included. The corresponding general representation of polarization tensor is found in the form of two-dimentional integral. The both effects may be essential for propagation of high-energy photons in oriented single crystals.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

Spectrum and polarization of coherent and incoherent radiation and the LPM effect in oriented single crystal

The spectrum and the circular polarization of radiation from longitudinally polarized high-energy electrons in oriented single crystal are considered using the method which permits inseparable consideration of both the coherent and the incoherent mechanisms of photon emission. The spectral and polarization properties of radiation are obtained and analyzed. It is found that in some part of spectral distribution the influence of multiple scattering (the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect) attains the order of 7 percent. The same is true for the influence of multiple scattering on the polarization part of the radiation intensity. The degree of circular polarization of total intensity of radiation is found. It is shown that the influence of multiple scattering on the photon polarization is similar to the influence of the LPM effect on the total intensity of radiation: it appears only for relatively low energies of radiating electron and has the order of 1 percent, while at higher energies the crystal field action excludes the LPM effect.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Coherent and incoherent pair creation by a photon in oriented single crystal

The new approach is developed for study of electron-positron pair production by a photon in oriented single crystal. It permits indivisible consideration of both coherent and incoherent mechanisms of pair creation and includes the action of field of axis (or plane) as well as the multiple scattering of particles of the created pair (the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect). From obtained integral probability of pair creation, it follows that multiple scattering appears only for relatively low energy of photon, while at higher photon energy the field action excludes the LPM effect. The found results agree quite satisfactory with recent CERN experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Pair creation by a photon in an electric field

The process of pair creation by a photon in a constant and homogeneous electric field is investigated basing on the polarization operator in the field. The total probability of the process is found in a relatively simple form. At high energy the quasiclassical approximation is valid. The corrections to the standard quasiclassical approximation (SQA) are calculated. In the region relatively low photon energies, where SQA is unapplicable, the new approximation is used. It is shown that in this energy interval the probability of pair creation by a photon in electric field exceeds essentially the corresponding probability in a magnetic field. This approach is valid at the photon energy much larger than "vacuum" energy in electric field: $\omega\gg eE/m$. For smaller photon energies the low energy approximation is developed. At $\omega\ll eE/m$ the found probability describes the absorption of soft photon by the particles created by an electric field.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Quantum theory of transition radiation and transition pair creation

Theory of the transition radiation and the transition pair creation is developed in the frame of QED. The spectral-angular distributions of probability of the transition radiation and of the transition pair creation are found. The total energy losses of and the total probability of pair creation are calculated and analyzed. Features of radiation and pair creation processes in a superdence medium (typical for white dwarfs) are discussed.Comment: LaTeX, 12 pages, 3 eps figure

Pair creation by a photon in a strong magnetic field

The process of pair creation by a photon in a strong magnetic field is investigated basing on the polarization operator in the field. The total probability of the process is found in a relatively simple form. The probability exhibits a "saw-tooth" pattern because of divergences arising when the electron and positron are created at threshold of the Landau energy levels. The pattern will be washed out at averaging over any smooth photon energy distribution. The new results are obtained in the scope of the quasiclassical approach: 1) in the case when the magnetic field $B \ll B_0, (B_0$ is the critical field) the new formulation extends the photon energy interval to the case when the created particles are not ultrarelativistic; 2) the correction to the standard quasiclassical approximation is found showing the range of applicability of the approach at high photon energy as well. The very important conclusion is that for both cases $B \ll B_0$ and $B \geq B_0$ the results of the quasiclassical calculation are very close to averaged probabilities of exact theory in a very wide range of photon energies. The quasiclassical approximation is valid also for the energy distribution if the electron and positron are created on enough high levels.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Comparison of theory with experiment for positron production from high-energy electrons moving along crystal axes

Various positron distributions are obtained using an approach developed earlier for the description of electron-photon showers in axially aligned single crystals. Based on these distributions, characteristics of the positron yield measured in recent experiments are calculated. Theoretical estimations display a rather good agreement with experimental results obtained using 3 to 10 GeV electrons aligned to the - axis of the tungsten crystals.Comment: 10 pages, 6 Postscript figure