Related papers: Vacuum magnetic linear birefringence using pulsed …
We calculate the vacuum polarization-induced ellipticity acquired by a linearly polarized laser beam of angular frequency $\bar \omega$ on traversing a region containing a transverse magnetic field rotating with a small angular velocity…
Vacuum birefringence (VB), a fundamental prediction of nonlinear quantum electrodynamics (QED), has eluded direct laboratory detection due to its extreme weakness. We propose a compact, "self-probing" scheme where a GeV electron beam…
Vacuum magnetic birefringence is one of the most interesting non-linear phenomena in quantum electrodynamics because it is a pure photon-photon result of the theory and it directly signalizes the violation of the classical superposition…
We introduce a laser heterodyne polarimeter designed for the precision measurement of sub $\mu\mathrm{rad}$ differential phase shifts due to birefringence. The polarimeter will be used in an initial testbed for a potential future vacuum…
Vacuum birefringence produces a differential phase between orthogonally polarized components of a weak electromagnetic probe in the presence of a strong electromagnetic field. Despite representing a hallmark prediction of quantum…
Vacuum birefringence is one of the most striking predictions of strong field quantum electrodynamics: Probe photons traversing a strong field region can indirectly sense the applied "pump" electromagnetic field via quantum fluctuations of…
Probing vacuum structures deformed by high intense fields is of great interest in general. In the context of quantum electrodynamics (QED), the vacuum exposed by a linearly polarized high-intensity laser field is expected to show…
The birefringence phenomenon in the vacuum with a constant magnetic background of arbitrary strength is considered within the framework of the effective action approach. A new feature of the birefringence in a magnetized vacuum is that the…
Vacuum birefringence is a signature of Lorentz-symmetry violation. Here we report on a recent search for birefringence in the cosmic microwave background. Polarization data is used to place constraints on certain forms of Lorentz violation.
Real photon-photon scattering is a long-predicted phenomenon that is being searched for in experiment in the form of a birefringent vacuum at optical and X-ray frequencies. We present results of calculations and numerical simulations for a…
During 2014 the PVLAS experiment has started data taking with a new apparatus installed at the INFN Section of Ferrara, Italy. The main target of the experiment is the observation of magnetic birefringence of vacuum. According to QED, the…
Hollow-core fibers have demonstrated record performance in applications such as high-power pulse delivery, quantum computing, and sensing. However, their routine use is yet to become reality. A major obstacle is the ability to maintain the…
Vacuum polarization, an effect predicted nearly 70 years ago, is still yet to be directly detected despite significant experimental effort. Previous attempts have made use of large liquid-helium cooled electromagnets which inadvertently…
One of the manifestations of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) is vacuum birefringence, which leads to an energy-dependent rotation of the polarization plane of linearly polarized photons arising from an astrophysical source. Here we use…
We consider tests of Lorentz invariance for the photon and fermion sector that use vacuum and matter-filled cavities. Assumptions on the wave-function of the electrons in crystals are eliminated from the underlying theory and accurate…
Quantum electrodynamics predicts that the quantum vacuum is birefringent, but due to the very small cross-section this is yet to be confirmed by experiment. Vacuum birefringence arises as the elastic part of photon-photon scattering; the…
IIn 2006 the PVLAS collaboration reported the observation of an optical rotation generated in vacuum by a magnetic field. To further check against possible instrumental artifacts several upgrades to the PVLAS apparatus have been made during…
In this paper we propose an all-optical vacuum birefringence experiment and evaluate its feasibility for various scenarios. Many petawatt-class lasers became operational and many more are expected to enter operation in the near future,…
Quantum electrodynamics predicts the vacuum to behave as a non-linear medium, including effects such as birefringence. However, for experimentally available field strengths, this vacuum polarizability is extremely small and thus very hard…
We present an in-situ method to measure the birefringence of a single vacuum window by means of microwave spectroscopy on an ensemble of cold atoms. Stress-induced birefringence can cause an ellipticity in the polarization of an initially…