Abstract
The production of electron-positron pairs by a photon propagating in a thermal bath in both zero and strong (B ≫ 4.41 × 1013 G) magnetic fields has been considered. The mean free path has been calculated for the high-energy photon propagating through a thermodynamically equilibrium photon gas along the magnetic field lines so that the γ → e − e + decay is kinematically forbidden. It has been shown that the strong magnetic field suppresses the probability of the γγ′ → e − e + process. The analyzed process can be useful for analysis of possible mechanisms of the generation of the e − e + plasma in the regions of the polar caps of magnetars.
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Original Russian Text © M.A. Dunaev, N.V. Mikheev, 2012, published in Zhurnal Eksperimental’noi i Teoreticheskoi Fiziki, 2012, Vol. 141, No. 3, pp. 419–426.
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Dunaev, M.A., Mikheev, N.V. Production of electron-positron pairs by a photon propagating in a strongly magnetized thermal bath. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 114, 365–371 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776112020033
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063776112020033