Self-induced mode mixing of ultraintense lasers in vacuum

TL;DR

This paper investigates how quantum vacuum effects influence ultraintense laser beams in vacuum, revealing self-induced mode mixing, polarization rotation, and harmonic generation, with implications for testing quantum electrodynamics and new physics models.

Contribution

It provides analytical expressions for quantum vacuum-induced effects on laser propagation, enabling new experimental tests of fundamental physics.

Findings

Quantum vacuum causes self-induced mode mixing in laser beams.

Polarization rotation and third harmonic generation are predicted.

Potential to test quantum electrodynamics and beyond in novel regimes.

Abstract

We study the effects of the quantum vacuum on the propagation of a Gaussian laser beam in vacuum. By means of a double perturbative expansion in paraxiality and quantum vacuum terms, we provide analytical expressions for the self-induced transverse mode mixing, rotation of polarization, and third harmonic generarion. We discuss the possibility of searching for the self-induced, spatially dependent phase shift of a multipetawatt laser pulse, which may allow the testing of quantum electrodynamics and new physics models, such as Born-Infeld theory and models involving new minicharged or axion-like particles, in parametric regions that have not yet been explored in laboratory experiments.