Abstract
These notes provide a pedagogical introduction to the theoretical study of vacuum polarization effects in strong electromagnetic fields as provided by state-of-the-art high-intensity lasers. Quantum vacuum fluctuations give rise to effective couplings between electromagnetic fields, thereby supplementing Maxwell’s linear theory of classical electrodynamics with nonlinearities. Resorting to a simplified laser pulse model, allowing for explicit analytical insights, we demonstrate how to efficiently analyze all-optical signatures of these effective interactions in high-intensity laser experiments. Moreover, we highlight several key features relevant for the accurate planning and quantitative theoretical analysis of quantum vacuum nonlinearities in the collision of high-intensity laser pulses.
Highlights
The quantum vacuum is not trivial and inert, but amounts to a complex state whose properties are fully determined by quantum fluctuations
We study optical signatures of quantum vacuum nonlinearity in the head-on collision of two laser pulses, which we label by l = ±
To obtain a feeling for the size of the effect in prospective experiments based on state-of-the-art technology, we subsequently focus on two different experimental scenarios: the collision of two near-infrared laser pulses delivered by petawatt-class high-intensity laser systems, and the collision of such a high-intensity laser pulse with an intense X-ray pulse provided by an free-electron laser (FEL)
Summary
The quantum vacuum is not trivial and inert, but amounts to a complex state whose properties are fully determined by quantum fluctuations. The present lecture notes, which can be considered as a natural continuation of the material presented in reference [1], aim at providing the reader with a pedagogical introduction to the theoretical study of vacuum polarization effects in strong electromagnetic fields as provided by state-of-the-art high-intensity lasers. They cover a broad range of aspects, from the theoretical foundations to the determination of the actual numbers of signal photons accessible in experiments using state-of-the-art technology.
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