Photon polarization tensor in presence of constant and arbitrary electric field

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Hauptverfasser: Hernández, Luis A., Martínez-Sánchez, Juan D., Zamora, R.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Hernández, Luis A.
Martínez-Sánchez, Juan D.
Zamora, R.
author_facet Hernández, Luis A.
Martínez-Sánchez, Juan D.
Zamora, R.
contents We compute the photon polarization tensor at one-loop order in the presence of a constant and uniform electric field. Our calculation is carried out for arbitrary field strength using the Schwinger proper-time formalism, and we explicitly derive an expression for the polarization tensor without approximations. We also present a complementary derivation within the strong field approximation. Our main contribution lies in expressing the polarization tensor in terms of a physically motivated tensor basis that ensures transversality and thus preserves gauge invariance. This basis, constructed from the preferred direction defined by the external electric field, makes explicit the breaking of Lorentz symmetry. We verify the consistency of our results by recovering the well-known vacuum polarization tensor in the zero-field limit and by demonstrating agreement between the strong field limit of the general expression and the result obtained directly in the strong field approximation. Interestingly, in the latter case, only one tensor structure survives, corresponding to the transverse dynamics with respect to the field direction, which highlights the dominance of perpendicular modes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_03133
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Photon polarization tensor in presence of constant and arbitrary electric field
Hernández, Luis A.
Martínez-Sánchez, Juan D.
Zamora, R.
High Energy Physics - Theory
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
We compute the photon polarization tensor at one-loop order in the presence of a constant and uniform electric field. Our calculation is carried out for arbitrary field strength using the Schwinger proper-time formalism, and we explicitly derive an expression for the polarization tensor without approximations. We also present a complementary derivation within the strong field approximation. Our main contribution lies in expressing the polarization tensor in terms of a physically motivated tensor basis that ensures transversality and thus preserves gauge invariance. This basis, constructed from the preferred direction defined by the external electric field, makes explicit the breaking of Lorentz symmetry. We verify the consistency of our results by recovering the well-known vacuum polarization tensor in the zero-field limit and by demonstrating agreement between the strong field limit of the general expression and the result obtained directly in the strong field approximation. Interestingly, in the latter case, only one tensor structure survives, corresponding to the transverse dynamics with respect to the field direction, which highlights the dominance of perpendicular modes.
title Photon polarization tensor in presence of constant and arbitrary electric field
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.03133