Abstract

Spectral fringes in Schwinger pair creation are usually attributed to structured driving, such as carrier oscillations, pulse trains, or multiple creation events. We show that pronounced fringes can arise even for smooth, carrier-free single-lobe electric-field pulses. Two bell-shaped profiles that are nearly indistinguishable in real time—a Gaussian pulse and a weakly deformed variant—produce qualitatively different longitudinal momentum spectra in the nonadiabatic crossover: the Gaussian spectrum remains smooth, whereas the deformed pulse develops strong fringes as the Keldysh parameter approaches unity. Exact numerical solutions in scalar and spinor QED agree with a semiclassical turning-point analysis and trace the effect to a turning-point dominance transition, where the leading saddle becomes irrelevant and subleading contributions interfere. We demonstrate the same mechanism in a solid-state Schwinger analog described by a gapped two-dimensional Dirac model relevant to epitaxial graphene on SiC, and discuss an energy-resolved pump–probe route to observing the predicted modulation.

Abstract

Spectral fringes in Schwinger pair creation are usually attributed to structured driving, such as carrier oscillations, pulse trains, or multiple creation events. We show that pronounced fringes can arise even for smooth, carrier-free single-lobe electric-field pulses. Two bell-shaped profiles that are nearly indistinguishable in real time—a Gaussian pulse and a weakly deformed variant—produce qualitatively different longitudinal momentum spectra in the nonadiabatic crossover: the Gaussian spectrum remains smooth, whereas the deformed pulse develops strong fringes as the Keldysh parameter approaches unity. Exact numerical solutions in scalar and spinor QED agree with a semiclassical turning-point analysis and trace the effect to a turning-point dominance transition, where the leading saddle becomes irrelevant and subleading contributions interfere. We demonstrate the same mechanism in a solid-state Schwinger analog described by a gapped two-dimensional Dirac model relevant to epitaxial graphene on SiC, and discuss an energy-resolved pump–probe route to observing the predicted modulation.

Abstract

Spectral fringes in Schwinger pair creation are usually attributed to structured driving, such as carrier oscillations, pulse trains, or multiple creation events. We show that pronounced fringes can arise even for smooth, carrier-free single-lobe electric-field pulses. Two bell-shaped profiles that are nearly indistinguishable in real time—a Gaussian pulse and a weakly deformed variant—produce qualitatively different longitudinal momentum spectra in the nonadiabatic crossover: the Gaussian spectrum remains smooth, whereas the deformed pulse develops strong fringes as the Keldysh parameter approaches unity. Exact numerical solutions in scalar and spinor QED agree with a semiclassical turning-point analysis and trace the effect to a turning-point dominance transition, where the leading saddle becomes irrelevant and subleading contributions interfere. We demonstrate the same mechanism in a solid-state Schwinger analog described by a gapped two-dimensional Dirac model relevant to epitaxial graphene on SiC, and discuss an energy-resolved pump–probe route to observing the predicted modulation.

Abstract

Spectral fringes in Schwinger pair creation are usually attributed to structured driving, such as carrier oscillations, pulse trains, or multiple creation events. We show that pronounced fringes can arise even for smooth, carrier-free single-lobe electric-field pulses. Two bell-shaped profiles that are nearly indistinguishable in real time—a Gaussian pulse and a weakly deformed variant—produce qualitatively different longitudinal momentum spectra in the nonadiabatic crossover: the Gaussian spectrum remains smooth, whereas the deformed pulse develops strong fringes as the Keldysh parameter approaches unity. Exact numerical solutions in scalar and spinor QED agree with a semiclassical turning-point analysis and trace the effect to a turning-point dominance transition, where the leading saddle becomes irrelevant and subleading contributions interfere. We demonstrate the same mechanism in a solid-state Schwinger analog described by a gapped two-dimensional Dirac model relevant to epitaxial graphene on SiC, and discuss an energy-resolved pump–probe route to observing the predicted modulation.