Related papers: Self-Focussing of an Intense X-Ray Beam in Vacuum
We show that a laser beam can be diffracted by a more concentrated light pulse due to quantum vacuum effects. We compute analytically the intensity pattern in a realistic experimental configuration, and discuss how it can be used to measure…
We study the nonlinear QED signature of x-ray vacuum diffraction in the head-on collision of optical high-intensity and x-ray free-electron laser pulses at finite spatio-temporal offsets between the laser foci. The high-intensity laser…
The nonlinear quantum interaction of a linearly polarized x-ray probe beam with a focused intense standing laser wave is studied theoretically. Because of the tight focusing of the standing laser pulse, diffraction effects arise for the…
We argue that long-range photon-photon attraction induced by the dipole interaction of two electron-positron loops can lead to "vacuum self-focussing" of very intense laser beams. The focussing angle theta(F) is found to increase with the…
Vacuum fluctuations give rise to effective nonlinear interactions between electromagnetic fields. These generically modify the characteristics of light traversing a strong-field region. X-ray free-electron lasers constitute a particularly…
In very intense electromagnetic fields, the vacuum refractive index is expected to be modified due to nonlinear quantum electrodynamics (QED) properties. Several experimental tests using high intensity lasers have been proposed to observe…
Quantum field theory predicts the vacuum to exhibit a non-linear response to strong electromagnetic fields. This fundamental tenet has remained experimentally challenging and is yet to be tested in the laboratory. We present proof of…
In this theoretical study, the problem of self-focusing of an X-ray intense laser beam in the thermal quantum plasma is studied. Using a relativistic fluid model and taking into account the hydrodynamic pressure of degenerate electrons in…
A strong light pulse propagating in a nonlinear medium causes an effective change in the local refractive index. With a suitable tuning of the pulse velocity, the leading and trailing edge of the pulse were predicted to behave as analogue…
The advent of Petawatt-class laser systems allows generating electro-magnetic fields of unprecedented strength in a controlled environment, driving increasingly more efforts to probe yet unobserved processes through their interaction with…
When exposed to intense electromagnetic fields, the quantum vacuum is expected to exhibit properties of a polarisable medium akin to a weakly nonlinear dielectric material. Various schemes have been proposed to measure such vacuum…
We put forward a concrete experimental setup allowing to measure light-by-light scattering in the collision of two optical high-intensity laser beams at state-of-the-art high-field facilities operating petawatt class laser systems. Our…
Self-focusing of a cw laser beam in rubidium atomic vapor was studied. The beam power and beam spot size at entrance of a glass cell with the rubidium vapor were variable parameters. A steep grow of the threshold power of self-focusing for…
We demonstrate that tailored laser beams provide a powerful means to make quantum vacuum signatures in strong electromagnetic fields accessible in experiment. Typical scenarios aiming at the detection of quantum vacuum nonlinearities at the…
Our goal is to study optical signatures of quantum vacuum nonlinearities in strong macroscopic electromagnetic fields provided by high-intensity laser beams. The vacuum emission scheme is perfectly suited for this task as it naturally…
High power short pulse lasers provide a promising route to study the strong field effects of the quantum vacuum, for example by direct photon-photon scattering in the all-optical regime. Theoretical predictions based on realistic laser…
The quantum vacuum constitutes a fascinating medium of study, in particular since near-future laser facilities will be able to probe the nonlinear nature of this vacuum. There has been a large number of proposed tests of the low-energy,…
A nonlinear interaction between photons is observed in a process that involves charge sources. To observe this process in a vacuum, there are a growing number of theoretical and experimental studies. This process may contain exotic…
We address the propagation of vortex beams with the circular Airy-Gaussian shape in a (2+1)-dimensional optical waveguide modeled by the fractional nonlinear Schrodinger equation. Systematic analysis of autofocusing of the beams reveals a…
A strong light pulse propagating in a nonlinear Kerr medium produces a change in the refractive index, which makes light travel at different speeds inside and outside the pulse. By tuning the pulse velocity, an analog black hole horizon can…