Investigating the QED vacuum with ultra-intense laser fields

In view of the increasingly stronger available laser fields it is becoming feasible to employ them to probe the nonlinear dielectric properties of the vacuum as predicted by quantum electrodynamics (QED) and to test QED in the presence of intense laser beams. First, we discuss vacuum-polarization effects that arise in the collision of a high-energy proton beam with a strong laser field. In addition, we investigate the process of light-by-light diffraction mediated by the virtual electron-positrons of the vacuum. A strong laser beam “diffracts” a probe laser field due to vacuum polarization effects, and changes its polarization. This change of the polarization is shown to be in principle measurable. Also, the possibility of generating harmonics by exploiting vacuum-polarization effects in the collision in vacuum of two ultra-strong laser beams is discussed. Moreover, when two strong parallel laser beams collide with a probe electromagnetic field, each photon of the probe may interact through the “polarized” quantum vacuum with the photons of the other two fields. Analogously to “ordinary” double-slit set-ups involving matter, the vacuum-scattered probe photons produce a diffraction pattern, which is the envisaged observable to measure the quantum interaction between the probe and strong field photons. We have shown that the diffraction pattern becomes visible in a few operating hours, if the strong fields have an intensity exceeding 10²⁴W/cm².     

Strong laser fields as a probe for fundamental physics

Upcoming high-intensity laser systems will be able to probe the quantum-induced nonlinear regime of electrodynamics. So far unobserved QED phenomena such as the discovery of a nonlinear response of the quantum vacuum to macroscopic electromagnetic fields can become accessible. In addition, such laser systems provide for a flexible tool for investigating fundamental physics. Primary goals consist in verifying so far unobserved QED phenomena. Moreover, strong-field experiments can search for new light but weakly interacting degrees of freedom and are thus complementary to accelerator-driven experiments. I review recent developments in this field, focusing on photon experiments in strong electromagnetic fields. The interaction of particle-physics candidates with photons and external fields can be parameterized by low-energy effective actions and typically predict characteristic optical signatures. I perform first estimates of the accessible new-physics parameter space of high-intensity laser facilities such as POLARIS and ELI.     

量子电动力学—粒子模拟极端等离子体动力学研究

新一代拍瓦激光装置有望将激光强度提升至10²³~10²⁴ W·cm^-2,在此极端强场条件下非线性量子电动力学效应对等离子体动力学过程产生重要影响.相对论电子在强电磁场作用下会同步辐射大量伽马光子,当后者穿过超强电磁场时会级联产生正负电子对.与此同时,这些量子电动力学效应也会反作用于激光等离子体相互作用过程,如辐射阻尼严重影响电子运动过程.为了研究这样极端的等离子体动力学,我们介绍最近几年发展的量子电动力学数值模拟模块,并将其耦合到传统的粒子模拟程序中,即量子电动力学-粒子模拟程序.由于大量新辐射的光子和产生的正负电子对会造成模拟粒子数目的不断增加,我们发展了粒子融合技术来减小模拟规模.利用此量子电动力学-粒子模拟程序,我们对极端强场激光物质相互作用以及极端天体物理现象开展了数值模拟研究.     

Radiation reaction

I solve Maxwell's equation for a current produced by a classical, point electron. My solution, which represents the self electromagnetic field of the electron, can be found along the electron trajectory, where the conventional retarded-time solution is singular. The solution is in the form of an integral over all spectral frequencies of the field and has an Ehrenfest correspondence with the operator field of quantum electrodynamics (QED). Use of the field in the equation of motion for a harmonically-bound electron leads to an equation having the same form as the Schrödinger equation for a two-level atom interacting with the QED vacuum field.     

Formation and dynamics of a plasma in superstrong laser fields including radiative and quantum electrodynamics effects

Studies of phenomena accompanying the interaction of superstrong electromagnetic fields with matter, in particular, the generation of an electron–positron plasma, acceleration of electrons and ions, and the generation of hard electromagnetic radiation are briefly reviewed. The possibility of using thin films to initiate quantum electrodynamics cascades in the field of converging laser pulses is analyzed. A model is developed to describe the formation of a plasma cavity behind a laser pulse in the transversely inhomogeneous plasma and the generation of betatron radiation by electrons accelerated in this cavity. Features of the generation of gamma radiation, as well as the effect of quantum electrodynamics effects on the acceleration of ions, at the interaction of intense laser pulses with solid targets are studied.     

Electromagnetic Field Theory Without Divergence Problems 2. A Least Invasively Quantized Theory

Classical electrodynamics based on the Maxwell–Born–Infeld field equations coupled with a Hamilton–Jacobi law of point charge motion is partially quantized. The Hamilton–Jacobi phase function is supplemented by a dynamical amplitude field on configuration space. Both together combine into a single complex wave function satisfying a relativistic Klein–Gordon equation that is self-consistently coupled to the evolution equations for the point charges and the electromagnetic fields. Radiation-free stationary states exist. The hydrogen spectrum is discussed in some detail. Upper bounds for Born's “aether constant” are obtained. In the limit of small velocities of and negligible radiation from the point charges, the model reduces to Schrödinger's equation with Coulomb Hamiltonian, coupled with the de Broglie–Bohm guiding equation.     

Investigation of Green's functions in an external electromagnetic field by the eigenfunction method

This paper contains a study of Green's functions in a quantum electrodynamics (QED) with an external electromagnetic field that disrupts vacuum stability. Representations are found for the Green's functions of a scalar QED in the eigenfunction basis of Klein-Gordon equations for a uniform constant electromagnetic field in combination with the field of a plane wave.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 70–74, June, 1989.     

Quantum mechanics derived from stochastic electrodynamics

The connection between stochastic electrodynamics (SED) and the quantum theory of matter is further explored. The main result is that the Fokker-Planck-like equation of SED can be recast into the form of a Schrödinger equation with radiative corrections, when the system is close to a state of equilibrium. The phase-space distribution can be written as Wigner's pseudo-distribution plus corrections due to the nonlinearity of the external force and to radiative effects. The radiative corrections predicted by the theory, namely the Lamb shift and the decay of excited atomic states, coincide with those predicted by QED. Moreover, the theory offers a clear physical interpretation of these phenomena as due to the coupling of the electric dipole of the system with the zero-point radiation field and to radiation reaction, respectively.     

两模腔中的参量上转换和下转换

提出了一种通过建立双线性二次哈密顿量在量子腔中实现参量上转换和下转换的方案.通常在非线性过程中,介质本身不参与能量的净交换,但光波频率可以发生转换的作用称为参量转换作用.此方案建立在一个四能级原子同时与两经典场和两量子场相互作用的基础上,理论属于非线性光学四波混频范畴.将原子制备在合适的能级上,经典光场与相应的能级发生...     

A self-dual gauge model in four dimensions

We derive the gauge-theory analogue of the “generalized” X-Y model of Jose, Kadanoff, Kirkpartick and Nelson. This model is a “generalized” scalar electrodynamics which exhibits, in general, three phases: a Higgs phase, ordinary scalar electrodynamics and a confining phase. There is an exact duality map between the Higgs scalar QED and the confinement/freedom phase transitions. We also discuss whether the various transitions are first, order second order with cross-over phenomena, or whether there exists a tricritical point.     

Electrodynamics with an integer charge and topology

An approach to constructing electrodynamics with an integer charge based on its topological interpretation is considered in the present paper. The condition that changes are integers is shown to endow the space itself with a variable permittivity. It is demonstrated that the concept suggested here solves the main problems of electrodynamics associated with point charges and provides a simple topological classification of field structures compared to that of the main elementary particles, including baryons. Electrodynamics equations of integer-charge fields are derived. Ul'yanovsk State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 8–13, January, 2000.     

Contrasting Classical and Quantum Vacuum States in Non-inertial Frames

Classical electron theory with classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation (stochastic electrodynamics) is the classical theory which most closely approximates quantum electrodynamics. Indeed, in inertial frames, there is a general connection between classical field theories with classical zero-point radiation and quantum field theories. However, this connection does not extend to noninertial frames where the time parameter is not a geodesic coordinate. Quantum field theory applies the canonical quantization procedure (depending on the local time coordinate) to a mirror-walled box, and, in general, each non-inertial coordinate frame has its own vacuum state. In particular, there is a distinction between the “Minkowski vacuum” for a box at rest in an inertial frame and a “Rindler vacuum” for an accelerating box which has fixed spatial coordinates in an (accelerating) Rindler frame. In complete contrast, the spectrum of random classical zero-point radiation is based upon symmetry principles of relativistic spacetime; in empty space, the correlation functions depend upon only the geodesic separations (and their coordinate derivatives) between the spacetime points. The behavior of classical zero-point radiation in a noninertial frame is found by tensor transformations and still depends only upon the geodesic separations, now expressed in the non-inertial coordinates. It makes no difference whether a box of classical zero-point radiation is gradually or suddenly set into uniform acceleration; the radiation in the interior retains the same correlation function except for small end-point (Casimir) corrections. Thus in classical theory where zero-point radiation is defined in terms of geodesic separations, there is nothing physically comparable to the quantum distinction between the Minkowski and Rindler vacuum states. It is also noted that relativistic classical systems with internal potential energy must be spatially extended and can not be point systems. The classical analysis gives no grounds for the “heating effects of acceleration through the vacuum” which appear in the literature of quantum field theory. Thus this distinction provides (in principle) an experimental test to distinguish the two theories.     

The geometrical aspect of the gauge fields and the possibility of a general description of local and nonlocal interaction in QED

It is shown that the use of analogues of the QCD gauge-invariant structures (type of “strings” and “stars”) in QED enables one to consider the generalized gauge-invariant amplitude, which satisfies the requirements of the quantum theory of gauge fields and allows one to describe electromagnetic (EM) interactions both with local and nonlocal charged matter fields beyond the scope of the Lagrange approach. This causes no negative consequences for the theory as a whole. The invariant character of the amplitude structure in relation to hierarchical evolution of the structural forces and structural elements of the nonlocal field allows its use in an unchanged form to describe EM interaction processes in different scales of matter structure. The generalized amplitude features a continuous limit in transition from nonlocal to local fields.     

Quantum Theory and Linear Stochastic Electrodynamics

We discuss the main results of Linear Stochastic Electrodynamics, starting from a reformulation of its basic assumptions. This theory shares with Stochastic Electrodynamics the core assumption that quantization comes about from the permanent interaction between matter and the vacuum radiation field, but it departs from it when it comes to considering the effect that this interaction has on the statistical properties of the nearby field. In the transition to the quantum regime, correlations between field modes of well-defined characteristic frequencies arise, which coincide with the transition frequencies of quantum mechanics and are therefore directly related with the energy quantization. The Heisenberg equations of motion of (non-relativistic) quantum electrodynamics are thus obtained. After a detailed consideration of the significance of the approximations made, we present a discussion on some of the most delicate or controversial features of quantum mechanics from the perspective provided by the present theory.     

Scheme for implementing quantum secret sharing via cavity QED

An experimentally feasible scheme for implementing quantum secret sharing via cavity quantum electrodynamics （QED） is proposed. The scheme requires the large detuning of the cavity field from the atomic transition, the cavity is only virtually excited, thus the requirement on the quality factor of the cavity is greatly loosened.     

Evaluation of the Two-Photon Self-Energy Correction for Hydrogenlike Ions

We report on the recent evaluation of the two-photon electron self energy to all orders in the interaction with the Coulomb field of the nucleus. With the present results at hand the major theoretical uncertainty is diminished, which provides predictions of the ground-state energy with a relative accuracy of about 10⁻⁶ for the hydrogenlike uranium and lead systems. This allows for high-precision tests of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in strong fields that are expected to be experimentally available in the near future. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Green's functions in an external electromagnetic field

The possibility is discussed of using eigenfunctions to find different propagators in quantum electrodynamics (QED) with an external electromagnetic field.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 59–64, May, 1989.The authors are grateful to B. L. Voronov and I. V. Tyutin for useful discussion of the questions examined here.