Probing the vacuum as a chiral medium

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Heinzl, T., King, B., Mercuri-Baron, A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Heinzl, T.
King, B.
Mercuri-Baron, A.
author_facet Heinzl, T.
King, B.
Mercuri-Baron, A.
contents We study the circular birefringence experienced by linearly polarised photons colliding with a circularly polarised background creating a vacuum of definite chirality (handedness). For this scenario the standard Heisenberg-Euler approach fails and must be supplemented by derivative corrections which we match to known Hilbert series. Choosing a plane wave background, we find equivalence between three approaches: (i) adding derivative corrections to the Heisenberg-Euler Lagrangian; (ii) improving the locally constant field approximation to the one-loop polarisation tensor; (iii) performing a low-energy expansion of the direct $2\to 2$ QED photon-photon scattering amplitude. Going beyond plane-wave backgrounds, we analyse an example of a circularly polarised standing wave sensitive to derivative corrections. We find a parameter regime where these corrections could be probed in experiments.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_19921
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing the vacuum as a chiral medium
Heinzl, T.
King, B.
Mercuri-Baron, A.
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
We study the circular birefringence experienced by linearly polarised photons colliding with a circularly polarised background creating a vacuum of definite chirality (handedness). For this scenario the standard Heisenberg-Euler approach fails and must be supplemented by derivative corrections which we match to known Hilbert series. Choosing a plane wave background, we find equivalence between three approaches: (i) adding derivative corrections to the Heisenberg-Euler Lagrangian; (ii) improving the locally constant field approximation to the one-loop polarisation tensor; (iii) performing a low-energy expansion of the direct $2\to 2$ QED photon-photon scattering amplitude. Going beyond plane-wave backgrounds, we analyse an example of a circularly polarised standing wave sensitive to derivative corrections. We find a parameter regime where these corrections could be probed in experiments.
title Probing the vacuum as a chiral medium
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19921