Complex Effective Action and Schwinger Effect

Abstract: Spontaneous pair production from background fields or spacetimes is one of the most prominent phenomena predicted by quantum field theory. The Schwinger mechanism of production of charged pairs by a strong electric field and the Hawking radiation of all species of particles from a black hole are the consequence of nonperturbative quantum effects. In this review article, the vacuum structure and pair production is reviewed in the in-out formalism, which provides a consistent framework for quantum field theory in the sense that the complex action explains not only the vacuum persistence but also pair production. The current technology of intense lasers is still lower by a few order than the Schwinger limit for electron-positron pair production, while magnetic fields of magnetars on the surface are higher than the Schwinger limit and even higher at the core. On the other hand, the zero effective mass of electron and hole in graphene and Dirac or Weyl semimetals will open a window for experimental test of quantum electrodynamics (QED) phenomena in strong fields.