Non-perturbative vacuum-polarization effects in proton-laser collisions

TL;DR

This paper investigates non-perturbative vacuum polarization effects in high-energy proton and intense laser field collisions, showing potential for experimental detection with current laser and accelerator technology.

Contribution

It provides an exact calculation of photon merging probability accounting for non-perturbative laser field effects, highlighting a new regime for experimental observation.

Findings

Photon merging probability depends non-perturbatively on laser parameters.

Vacuum polarization effects are measurable with next-generation lasers and existing proton accelerators.

The study offers a new approach to probing quantum vacuum phenomena.

Abstract

In the collision of a high-energy proton beam and a strong laser field, merging of the laser photons can occur due to the polarization of vacuum. The probability of photon merging is calculated by accounting exactly for the laser field and presents a highly non-perturbative dependence on the laser intensity and frequency. It is shown that the non-perturbative vacuum-polarization effects can be experimentally measured by combining the next-generation of table-top petawatt lasers with presently available proton accelerators.