Inverse Cotton-Mouton effect of the Vacuum and of atomic systems

TL;DR

This paper predicts the inverse Cotton-Mouton effect (ICME) for the quantum vacuum and atomic systems, suggesting it could be experimentally observed with current and upcoming laser technology, testing nonlinear quantum vacuum behavior.

Contribution

It provides the first theoretical calculation of the ICME for the quantum vacuum and compares it with atomic systems, proposing experimental detection methods.

Findings

ICME predicted for vacuum based on Quantum ElectroDynamics

Potential measurement of ICME in noble gases with current lasers

Feasibility of testing quantum vacuum nonlinearities with future laser facilities

Abstract

In this letter we calculate the Inverse Cotton-Mouton Effect (ICME) for the vacuum following the predictions of Quantum ElectroDynamics. We compare the value of this effect for the vacuum with the one expected for atomic systems. We finally show that ICME could be measured for the first time for noble gases using state-of-the-art laser systems and for the quantum vacuum with near-future laser facilities like ELI and HiPER, providing in particular a test of the nonlinear behaviour of quantum vacuum at intensities below the Schwinger limit of 4.5x10^33 W/m^2.