Delbrück scattering in combined Coulomb and laser fields

Abstract

We study Delbr\"uck scattering in a Coulomb field in the presence of a laser field. The amplitudes are calculated in the Born approximation with respect to the Coulomb field and exactly in the parameters of the laser field having arbitrary strength, spectral content, and polarization. The case of high initial photon energy is investigated in detail for a monochromatic circularly polarized laser field. It is shown that the angular distribution of the process substantially differs from that for Delbr\"uck scattering in a pure Coulomb field. The value of the cross section under discussion may exceed the latter at realistic laser parameters that essentially simplify the possibility of the experimental observation of the phenomenon. The effect of high order terms in the quantum intensity parameter $\ensuremath{\chi}$ of the laser field is found to be very important already at relatively small $\ensuremath{\chi}$.