Anisotropic effects of background fields on Born-Infeld electromagnetic waves

TL;DR

This paper derives exact solutions for electromagnetic waves in Born-Infeld theory with static background fields, revealing anisotropic effects and potential experimental tests of the non-linear electromagnetic model.

Contribution

It provides explicit solutions showing how background fields influence wave propagation in Born-Infeld theory, highlighting anisotropic effects and wave modifications.

Findings

Wave speed is altered by background fields.

Longitudinal wave components are generated.

Wave direction differs from ray direction in magnetic backgrounds.

Abstract

We show exact solutions of Born-Infeld theory for electromagnetic plane waves propagating in the presence of static background fields. The non-linear character of Born-Infeld equations generates an interaction between background and wave that changes the speed of propagation and adds a longitudinal component to the wave. As a consequence, in a magnetic background the ray direction differs from the propagation direction --a behavior resembling the one of a wave in an anisotropic medium--. This feature could open up a way to experimental tests of Born-Infeld theory.