overcritical electric field
overcritical electric field
[′ō·vər‚krid·ə·kəl i′lek·trik ′fēld] (atomic physics)
An electric field so strong that an electron-positron pair is created spontaneously; quantum electrodynamics predicts that this will happen near a nucleus having more than approximately 173 protons.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.