Abstract
The structure of the vacuum is one of the most important topics in modern theoretical physics. In the best understood field theory, Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), a transition from the neutral to a charged vacuum in the presence of strong external electromagnetic fields is predicted. This transition is signalled by the occurrence of spontaneous e+e− pair creation. The theoretical implications of this process as well as recent successful attempts to verify it experimentally using heavy ion collisions are discussed. A short account of the history of the vacuum concept is given. The role of the vacuum in various areas of physics, like gravitation theory and strong interaction physics is reviewed.
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© 1985 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Greiner, W., Müller, B., Rafelski, J. (1985). Introduction. In: Quantum Electrodynamics of Strong Fields. Texts and Monographs in Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82272-8_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82272-8_1
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