On quantum radiation in curved spacetime

In the context of quantum field theories in curved spacetime, we compute the effective action of the transition amplitude from vacuum to vacuum in the presence of an external gravitational field. The imaginary part of the resulted effective action determines the probability of vacuum decay via a quantum tunneling process, giving the rate and spectrum of particle creations. We show that (i) the gravitational field polarizes the vacuum and discretizes its spectrum; (ii) vacuum gains gravitational energy by such a polarization. On the basis of gravitational vacuum polarization, we discuss the quantum origin of vacuum decay in curved spacetime as pair-creations of particles and anti-particles. The thermal spectrum of particle creations is attributed to (i) the CPT invariance of pair-creations (annihilations) from (into) vacuum and (ii) vacuum acts as a reserve with the temperature determined by gravitational energy-gain.     

Dynamics of superhorizon photons during inflation with vacuum polarization

We study asymptotic dynamics of photons propagating in the polarized vacuum of a locally de Sitter Universe. The origin of the vacuum polarization is fluctuations of a massless, minimally coupled, scalar, which we model by the one-loop vacuum polarization tensor of scalar electrodynamics. We show that late time dynamics of the electric field on superhorizon scales approaches that of an Airy oscillator. The magnetic field amplitude, on the other hand, asymptotically approaches a nonvanishing constant (plus an exponentially small oscillatory component), which is suppressed with respect to the initial (vacuum) amplitude. This implies that the asymptotic photon dynamics is more intricate than that of a massive photon obeying the local Proca equation.     

Magnetic field creation by electron-weak interaction in a gravitational field

We give rough arguments showing that a stationary gravitational field should produce a magnetic field by vacuum polarization effects on neutrinos and electrons.     

Quantum effects in “mixmaster universe”

It is shown that under the action of an anisotropic gravitational field nonzero helicity appears in the vacuum state of the massless spinor field. In the hot universe theory it can be interpreted as an origin of baryon or lepton charges in the vacuum. The nonconservation of fermion number in the model is a result of the quantum disintegration of the “charged vacuum” in the process of evolution. The energy-momentum tensor of the created particles and vacuum polarization is calculated.     

Behavior of Vacuum Polarization of Gauge-Boson and Wavefunction Renormalization Factor of Fermion in Different Phases of QED3

We investigate the behavior of the vacuum polarization of the gauge-boson Π and the wave-function renormalization factor of the fermion A in QED₃, using the coupled Dyson-Schwinger equations for the gauge-boson and fermion propagator. Using several different ansätze for the fermion-gauge-boson vertex, we find that the wave-function renormalization factor A and especially the vacuum polarization Π have different behaviors in the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking phase and in the chiral symmetric phase and hence in the phenomenological applications of QED₃ one should choose different forms of gauge-boson propagator for these two phases. We also find that when adopting a specific ansätze of the fermion-gauge-boson vertex (ansätze (3)) the vacuum polarization function equals its one-loop perturbative result in the chiral symmetric phase. This fact suggests that in QED₃ the Wigner vacuum corresponds to the perturbative vacuum.     

Vacuum polarization by a Coulomb center and a strong magnetic field. Uehling's correction

The problem of vacuum polarization by the Coulomb field of the nucleus and a constant homogeneous magnetic field is examined by the proper time method. For this the magnetic field is exactly taken into account, and the Coulomb field is considered by perturbation theory. In the case of a magnetic field equal to zero, we calculate the change of the Coulomb potential which results from vacuum polarization. The result obtained coincides with the well-known Uehling correction.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 9, pp. 86–92, September 1986.     

Enhancement of laser interaction with vacuum for a large angular aperture

We study the nonlinear interaction of laser light with vacuum for a large angular aperture at electromagnetic field strengths far below the Schwinger limit. The polarization and magnetization in vacuum irradiated by a focused laser beam clearly differ from those in matter. This is due to the dependence on the Lorentz invariant, which results in a ring-shaped radiation distribution in vacuum. The number of the radiated photons increases nonlinearly with increasing angular aperture.     

Colliding gravitational waves with noncollinear polarization: A class of soliton solutions

We construct a general class of exact solutions of the vacuum Einstein field equations describing the interaction of colliding gravitational plane waves with noncollinear polarization by using the inverse scattering method.     

Polarization distributions and degree of polarization for quantum Gaussian light fields

We examine polarization properties of electromagnetic field states with Gaussian complex-amplitude distributions, such as quadrature coherent and squeezed states, thermal chaotic states, and two-mode squeezed vacuum states. We compute their polarization distribution and we apply to them diverse measures of degree of polarization and polarization fluctuations. This allows us to investigate the main properties of the degrees of polarization introduced so far.     

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.     

Exact two-loop vacuum polarization correction to the Lamb shift in hydrogenlike ions

We present a calculation scheme for the two-loop vacuum polarization correction of order to the Lamb shift of hydrogenlike high-Z atoms. The interaction with the external Coulomb field is taken into account to all orders in . By means of a modified potential approach the problem is reduced to the evaluation of effective one-loop vacuum polarization potentials. An expression for the energy shift is deduced within the framework of partial wave decomposition performing appropriate subtractions. Exact results for the two-loop vacuum polarization contribution to the Lamb shift of K- and L-shell electron states in hydrogenlike Lead and Uranium are presented. Received: 10 August 1997 / Revised: 31 October 1997 / Accepted: 18 November 1997     

Experimental observation of optical rotation generated in vacuum by a magnetic field

We report the experimental observation of a light polarization rotation in vacuum in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. Assuming that data distribution is Gaussian, the average measured rotation is (3.9 +/- 0.5) x 10(-12) rad/pass, at 5 T with 44 000 passes through a 1 m long magnet, with lambda = 1064 nm. The relevance of this result in terms of the existence of a light, neutral, spin-zero particle is discussed.     

Vacuum birefringence in strong magnetic fields: (I) Photon polarization tensor with all the Landau levels

Photons propagating in strong magnetic fields are subject to a phenomenon called the “vacuum birefringence” where refractive indices of two physical modes both deviate from unity and are different from each other. We compute the vacuum polarization tensor of a photon in a static and homogeneous magnetic field by utilizing Schwinger’s proper-time method, and obtain a series representation as a result of double integrals analytically performed with respect to proper-time variables. The outcome is expressed in terms of an infinite sum of known functions which is plausibly interpreted as summation over all the Landau levels of fermions. Each contribution from infinitely many Landau levels yields a kinematical condition above which the contribution has an imaginary part. This indicates decay of a sufficiently energetic photon into a fermion–antifermion pair with corresponding Landau level indices. Since we do not resort to any approximation, our result is applicable to the calculation of refractive indices in the whole kinematical region of a photon momentum and in any magnitude of the external magnetic field.     

One loop vacuum polarization in a locally de Sitter background

We compute the one loop vacuum polarization from massless, minimally coupled scalar QED in a locally de Sitter background. Gauge invariance is maintained through the use of dimensional regularization, whereas conformal invariance is explicitly broken by the scalar kinetic term as well as through the conformal anomaly. A fully renormalized result is obtained. The one loop corrections to the linearized, effective field equations do not vanish when evaluated on-shell. In fact the on-shell one loop correction depends quadratically on the inflationary scale factor, similar to a photon mass. The contribution from the conformal anomaly is insignificant by comparison.     

Photon regeneration from pseudoscalars at X-ray laser facilities

Recently, the PVLAS Collaboration reported an anomalously large rotation of the polarization of light in the presence of a magnetic field in vacuum. As a possible explanation, they consider the existence of a light spin-zero particle coupled to two photons. We propose here a method of independently testing this result using a high-energy photon regeneration experiment (the x-ray analogue of "invisible light shining through walls") using the synchrotron x rays from a free-electron laser. With such an experiment the region of parameter space implied by PVLAS could be probed in a matter of minutes.     

Polarized x-ray emission from magnetized neutron stars: signature of strong-field vacuum polarization

In the atmospheric plasma of a strongly magnetized neutron star, vacuum polarization can induce a Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein type resonance across which an x-ray photon may (depending on its energy) convert from one mode into the other, with significant changes in opacities and polarizations. We show that this vacuum resonance effect gives rise to a unique energy-dependent polarization signature in the surface emission from neutron stars. The detection of polarized x rays from neutron stars can provide a direct probe of strong-field quantum electrodynamics and constrain the neutron star magnetic field and geometry.     

Modified coulomb law in a strongly magnetized vacuum

We study the electric potential of a charge placed in a strong magnetic field B>B(0) approximately 4.4x10(13) G, as modified by the vacuum polarization. In such a field the electron Larmour radius is much less than its Compton length. At the Larmour distances a scaling law occurs, with the potential determined by a magnetic-field-independent function. The scaling regime implies short-range interaction, expressed by the Yukawa law. The electromagnetic interaction regains its long-range character at distances larger than the Compton length, the potential decreasing across B faster than along. Correction to the nonrelativistic ground-state energy of a hydrogenlike atom is found. In the limit B = infinity, the modified potential becomes the Dirac delta function plus a regular background. With this potential the ground-state energy is finite--the best pronounced effect of the vacuum polarization.     

Circularly polarized light emission from semiconductor planar chiral nanostructures

We demonstrate circularly polarized light emission from InAs quantum dots embedded in the waveguide region of a GaAs-based chiral nanostructure. The observed phenomenon originates due to a strong imbalance between left- and right-circularly polarized components of the vacuum field and results in a degree of polarization as high as 26% at room temperature. A strong circular anisotropy of the vacuum field modes inside the chiral nanostructure is visualized using numerical simulation. The results of the simulation agree well with experimental results.     

Two-loop corrections to the potential of a pointlike charge in a superstrong magnetic field

The potential of the pointlike charge in a superstrong homogeneous magnetic field B ? m _e ² /e ³ ≈ 6 × 10¹⁵ G is considered. It is well known that Coulomb potential is significantly modified by taking into account vacuum polarization (calculated in one loop approximation). We consider electron selfenergy and correction to the vertex function at one loop, and show that these diagrams are not enhanced by magnetic field like eB.We calculate two-loop corrections to the vacuum polarization and find that these contributions are small.