Signatures of vacuum birefringence in low-power flying focus pulses
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1866913257407643648 |
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| author | Formanek, Martin Palastro, John P. Ramsey, Dillon Weber, Stefan Di Piazza, Antonino |
| author_facet | Formanek, Martin Palastro, John P. Ramsey, Dillon Weber, Stefan Di Piazza, Antonino |
| contents | Vacuum birefringence produces a differential phase between orthogonally polarized components of a weak electromagnetic probe in the presence of a strong electromagnetic field. Despite representing a hallmark prediction of quantum electrodynamics, vacuum birefringence remains untested in pure light configurations due to the extremely large electromagnetic fields required for a detectable phase difference. Here, we exploit the programmable focal velocity and extended focal range of a flying focus laser pulse to substantially lower the laser power required for detection of vacuum birefringence. In the proposed scheme, a linearly polarized x-ray probe pulse counter-propagates with respect to a flying focus pulse, whose focus moves at the speed of light in the same direction as the x-ray probe. The peak intensity of the flying focus pulse overlaps the probe over millimeter-scale distances and induces a polarization ellipticity on the order of $10^{-10}$, which lies within the detection sensitivity of existing x-ray polarimeters. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_11734 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Signatures of vacuum birefringence in low-power flying focus pulses Formanek, Martin Palastro, John P. Ramsey, Dillon Weber, Stefan Di Piazza, Antonino High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Optics Vacuum birefringence produces a differential phase between orthogonally polarized components of a weak electromagnetic probe in the presence of a strong electromagnetic field. Despite representing a hallmark prediction of quantum electrodynamics, vacuum birefringence remains untested in pure light configurations due to the extremely large electromagnetic fields required for a detectable phase difference. Here, we exploit the programmable focal velocity and extended focal range of a flying focus laser pulse to substantially lower the laser power required for detection of vacuum birefringence. In the proposed scheme, a linearly polarized x-ray probe pulse counter-propagates with respect to a flying focus pulse, whose focus moves at the speed of light in the same direction as the x-ray probe. The peak intensity of the flying focus pulse overlaps the probe over millimeter-scale distances and induces a polarization ellipticity on the order of $10^{-10}$, which lies within the detection sensitivity of existing x-ray polarimeters. |
| title | Signatures of vacuum birefringence in low-power flying focus pulses |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11734 |