  We present a systematic and unifying treatment of the problem of spontaneous
nucleation of particle-antiparticle pairs in a (2+1)-dimensional system due to
a static and uniform electromagnetic-like field, in the presence of quantum
dissipation. We first describe a direct derivation of the Caldeira-Leggett type
of mechanism for quantum dissipation within the context of string theory and of
the ensuing Born-Infeld action, pointing out the difference with the physical
context in which vacuum decay can occur. We then evaluate the
particle-antiparticle pair production rate, working out all the details of the
calculation and including also the effects of a possible periodic background
potential and of the Coulomb-like particle-antiparticle attraction. The former
induces a dissipation-driven localization which interferes with the effect of
the driving electric-like field. We also hint at a possible application to the
problem of the decay of a supercurrent in a superconducting thin film due to
vortex-antivortex nucleation in the presence of a pinning lattice.
