Towards Measuring Vacuum Polarization of Quantum Electrodynamics with Superconducting Junctions

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experimental setup using superconducting circuits and Josephson junctions to detect vacuum polarization effects predicted by quantum electrodynamics, potentially observing quantum field theory corrections in condensed matter systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach to measure vacuum polarization effects via Josephson junctions, linking quantum field theory with condensed matter physics.

Findings

Potential to observe quantum electrodynamics corrections in low energy regimes

Signal-to-noise ratio improves quadratically with experiment duration

Feasibility of high-precision measurements in superconducting systems

Abstract

In this proposal, we present an experimental setup based on superconducting circuits and Josephson junctions to explore the modification of Josephson coefficient in the presence of external magnetic field due to vacuum polarization of quantum electrodynamics. This robust experiment can be considered as one of the few possible chances to observe the fine quantum field theory corrections in the low energy regimes in condensed matter systems. It can also be a new check for the universality of Josephson constant which is important in metrology. We will expect the signal to noise ratio of the read-out signal to increases quadratically by running time of the experiment. This characteristic of the output signal the will guarantee the feasibility of measurements with desired precision