Detectable Optical Signatures of QED Vacuum Nonlinearities using High-Intensity Laser Fields
Abstract
Up to date, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the most precisely tested quantum field theory. Nevertheless, particularly in the high-intensity regime it predicts various phenomena that so far have not directly been accessible in all-optical experiments, such as photon-photon scattering phenomena induced by quantum vacuum fluctuations. Here, we focus on all-optical signatures of quantum vacuum effects accessible in the high-intensity regime of electromagnetic fields. We present an experimental setup giving rise to signal photons distinguishable from the background. This configuration is based on two optical pulsed petawatt lasers: one generates a narrow but high-intensity scattering center to be probed by the other one. We calculate the differential number of signal photons attainable with this field configuration analytically and compare it with the background of the driving laser beams.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2001.05731,
title = {Detectable Optical Signatures of QED Vacuum Nonlinearities using High-Intensity Laser Fields},
author = {Leonhard Klar},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.05731},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
11 pages, 3 figures; Contribution to the proceedings of the Helmholtz International Summer School (HISS) - Dubna International Advanced School of Theoretical Physics (DIAS-TH): "Quantum Field Theory at the Limits: from Strong Fields to Heavy Quarks", July-August 2019