Probing vacuum birefringence by phase-contrast Fourier imaging under fields of high-intensity lasers

TL;DR

This paper proposes a phase-contrast Fourier imaging method to measure vacuum birefringence caused by high-intensity laser fields, potentially revealing nonlinear quantum electrodynamics effects beyond current theories.

Contribution

It introduces a novel measurement technique for vacuum birefringence using phase-contrast Fourier imaging under intense laser fields, aiming to detect effects beyond standard QED predictions.

Findings

Proposes a phase-contrast Fourier imaging method for vacuum birefringence measurement.

Suggests the potential to observe effects beyond QED vacuum polarization.

Provides a theoretical basis for experimental detection of photon-photon interactions.

Abstract

In vacuum high-intensity lasers can cause photon-photon interaction via the process of virtual vacuum polarization which may be measured by the phase velocity shift of photons across intense fields. In the optical frequency domain, the photon-photon interaction is polarization-mediated described by the Euler-Heisenberg effective action. This theory predicts the vacuum birefringence or polarization dependence of the phase velocity shift arising from nonlinear properties in quantum electrodynamics (QED). We suggest a method to measure the vacuum birefringence under intense optical laser fields based on the absolute phase velocity shift by phase-contrast Fourier imaging. The method may serve for observing effects even beyond the QED vacuum polarization.