Effects of Magnetic Fields on String Pair Creation

Abstract

The rate of pair production of open strings in general uniform electromagnetic fields is calculated in various space-time dimensions. The corrections with respect to the case of pure electric backgrounds are displayed. In particular, a contribution in the form of a Born-Infeld action is derived and its role in the present context emphasizedComment: LaTeX, 13 pages, one LaTeX figure; several clarifying remarks and one equation added; section 3 shortened, a few misprints correcte