MULTIPLE ELECTROMAGNETIC ELECTRON-POSITRON PAIR PRODUCTION IN RELATIVISTIC HEAVY-ION COLLISIONS

We calculate the cross sections for the production of one and more ele ctron-positron pairs due to the strong electromagnetic fields in relat ivistic heavy-ion collisions. We derive the N-pair amplitude using the generating functional of fermions in an external field and the path-i ntegral formalism. The N-pair production probability is found to be an approximate Poisson distribution. We calculate total cross sections f or the production of one pair in lowest order, including corrections f rom the Poisson distribution up to third order. Furthermore, we calcul ate cross sections for the production of up to five pairs including co rrections from the Poisson distribution.