[Physics] Can virtual particles be ‘boosted’ into becoming real particles by fields other than gravity

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On the wikipedia page for Hawking Radiation it states:

Physical insight into the process may be gained by imagining that particle-antiparticle radiation is emitted from just beyond the event horizon. This radiation does not come directly from the black hole itself, but rather is a result of virtual particles being "boosted" by the black hole's gravitation into becoming real particles.

As far as I understand it, something about the intensely strong gravitational field around a black hole gives the virtual particles enough energy to be 'boosted' into real particles, hence we can then observe Hawking Radiation. But can the virtual particles be 'boosted' into real particles by other fields, such as an intensely strong electric field? And if so, how strong would the electric field have to be?

Best Answer

Perhaps the most direct example in particle physics is $J/\Psi$ (or any other meson not including up and down quarks) production.

The meson has a valence content of $c\bar{c}$, so it represent a pair of particles knocked on-shell from the nucleon sea.

The reaction is not exactly analogous because it requires a rather large input of kinetic energy (as does the electromagnetic pair production reaction ($\gamma \longrightarrow e^+ + e^-$) I showed in a comment now deleted.

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