Non-linear effects on radiation propagation around a charged compact object

TL;DR

This paper investigates how non-linear electrodynamics influences the behavior of electromagnetic waves near a charged, massive object in curved spacetime, revealing potential significance of self-interaction effects near extremal compact objects.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of non-linear electromagnetic effects on photon propagation and redshift in curved spacetime, highlighting distinctions from classical Reissner-Nordström solutions.

Findings

Non-linear effects alter geodesic deviation and photon redshift.

Self-interaction effects are distinguishable from classical terms.

Potential importance of these effects near extremal charged objects.

Abstract

The propagation of non-linear electromagnetic waves is carefully analyzed on a curved spacetime created by static spherically symmetric mass and charge distribution. We compute how non-linear electrodynamics affects the geodesic deviation and the redshift of photons propagating near this massive charged object. In the first order approximation, the effects of electromagnetic self-interaction can be distinguished from the usual Reissner-Nordstr\"om terms. In the particular case of Euler-Heisenberg effective Lagrangian, we find that these self-interaction effects might be important near extremal compact charged objects.