If you blast an electron with a powerful laser, it can literally shatter empty space and create 100 new particles out of thin air.
arXiv · March 17, 2026 · 2603.14063
The Takeaway
Physics predicts that empty space isn't actually empty, and if you hit it hard enough, it will 'break' and produce matter. Researchers have calculated that upcoming laser facilities are powerful enough to turn a single electron into a fountain of 100 positrons and electrons by literally ripping them out of the fabric of the vacuum.
From the abstract
The phenomenon of electron-laser vacuum breakdown is the multiple cascade production of electron-positron pairs in head-on collision of a beam of relativistic electrons with an intense laser pulse. This effect was first predicted by the author in 1996 [1] and further developed in [2]. In the present paper, an analytical expression for the total number of produced particles is obtained using the generalized Heitler model. The model results are shown to be in good agreement with the estimates of t