Laser-assisted Light-by-Light Scattering in Born-Infeld and Axion-like Particle Theories

TL;DR

This paper explores how intense laser fields can be used to detect effects of Born-Infeld and axion-like particles on light-by-light scattering, providing a new way to probe physics beyond the Standard Model.

Contribution

It introduces a method to analyze laser-assisted light-by-light scattering incorporating Born-Infeld and ALP theories, with detailed cross section calculations and sensitivity estimates.

Findings

Laser-assisted light-by-light scattering could be observed with moderate luminosities.

The study provides sensitivity bounds on BI and ALP parameters.

Complete QED helicity amplitudes were used for accurate cross section calculations.

Abstract

The precision measurements of well-known light-by-light reactions lead to important insights of nonlinear quantum electrodynamics (QED) vacuum polarization. The laser of an intense electromagnetic field strength provides an essential tool for exploring nonlinear QED and new physics beyond Standard Model (SM) in the high-precision frontier. In this work, we propose to search for low-energy light-by-light scattering in the collision of a photon beam and a laser pulse of classical background field. We aim to investigate the impact of Born-Infeld (BI) and axion-like particle (ALP) theories on laser-assisted light-by-light scattering. We calculate the QED light-by-light scattering cross section using complete QED helicity amplitudes, and then combine them with the amplitudes in BI or ALP theory to evaluate the total cross section. The laser-assisted SM light-by-light scattering should be observable in future experiments with very moderate integrated luminosities. The sensitivity of laser-assisted light-by-light scattering to BI and ALP parameters is presented.