Width of photon decay in magnetic field: elementary semiclassical derivation and sensitivity to Lorentz violation

TL;DR

This paper provides a simple semiclassical derivation of photon decay width in magnetic fields and explores how Lorentz violation could affect this process, with implications for cosmic ray experiments.

Contribution

It introduces an elementary semiclassical derivation of photon decay width and extends it to models with Lorentz symmetry breaking, highlighting potential experimental signatures.

Findings

Photon decay width derived using worldline instantons

Lorentz violation can alter photon decay processes

Implications for detecting Lorentz invariance deviations in cosmic rays

Abstract

We present an elementary derivation of the width of photon decay in a weak magnetic field using the semiclassical method of worldline instantons. The calculation is generalized to a model of quantum electrodynamics with broken Lorentz symmetry. Implications for the search of deviations from Lorentz invariance in the cosmic ray experiments are discussed.