Formation of an electron and a positron from high-energy electromagnetic radiation traveling through matter, usually in the vicinity of an atomic nucleus .
It is a direct conversion of radiant energy into matter in accordance with the equation E = m c 2 , where E is the amount of energy, m is the mass, and c is the speed of light. It is one of the principal ways in which high-energy photons in the process of {{link=annihilation">annihilation with other electrons. Pair production may sometimes refer to the formation of other particle/antiparticle pairs as well.