Non-linear interaction of laser light with vacuum: contributions to the energy density and pressure in presence of an intense magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper investigates the non-linear effects of intense laser light interacting with vacuum in the presence of strong magnetic fields, focusing on energy density and pressure contributions using the Euler-Heisenberg formalism.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of vacuum's thermodynamical contributions under weak magnetic fields, highlighting anisotropic behavior relevant to high-intensity laser experiments and astrophysical phenomena.

Findings

Vacuum exhibits highly anisotropic energy density and pressure in magnetic fields.

Euler-Heisenberg formalism effectively models weak-field non-linear vacuum effects.

Implications for photon-photon scattering and astrophysical magnetized systems.

Abstract

Recent simulations show that very large electric and magnetic fields near the kilo Tesla strength will likely be generated by ultra-intense lasers at existing facilities over distances of hundreds of microns in underdense plasmas. Stronger ones are even expected in the future although some technical dificulties must be overcome. In addition, it has been shown that vacuum exhibits a peculiar non-linear behaviour in presence of high magnetic and electric field strengths. In this work we are interested in the analysis of thermodynamical contributions of vacuum to the energy density and pressure when radiation interacts with it in the presence of an external magnetic field. Using the Euler-Heisenberg formalism in the regime of weak fields i.e. smaller than critical Quantum Electrodynamics field strength values, we evaluate these magnitudes and analyze the highly anisotropic behaviour we find. Our work has implications for photon-photon scattering with lasers and astrophysically magnetized underdense systems far outside their surface where matter effects are increasingly negligible.