Photon and dilepton spectra from nonlinear QED effects in supercritical magnetic fields induced by heavy-ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper explores how extremely strong magnetic fields from heavy-ion collisions affect photon behavior, revealing phenomena like vacuum birefringence, photon decay, and splitting that could influence observed spectra.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of nonlinear QED effects on photon properties in supercritical magnetic fields induced by heavy-ion collisions.

Findings

Identification of vacuum birefringence in strong magnetic fields

Prediction of photon decay and splitting processes

Potential anisotropies in photon and dilepton spectra

Abstract

We discuss properties of photons in extremely strong magnetic fields induced by the relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We investigate the vacuum birefringence, the real-photon decay, and the photon splitting which are all forbidden in the ordinary vacuum, but become possible in strong magnetic fields. These effects potentially give rise to anisotropies in photon and dilepton spectra.