Detecting Vacuum Birefringence via Optical Interferometry with PW-Class Lasers: Opportunities and ChallengesHYBRID

The yet-to-be confirmed predictions of quantum electrodynamics (QED) are the ones stemming from the non-perturbative regime described by the Heisenberg-Euler (HE) Lagrangian [1]. They include phenomena such as light-by-light scattering with real photons [2], light splitting [3] and vacuum birefringence (VBir) [4]. The latter is the topic this talk. We briefly summarize theoretical as well as experimental efforts in order to measure VBir, including ultra-peripeareal heavy ion collisions, magnetic field-based experiments as well as the x-ray and γ-ray with petawatt (PW) laser pump proposals [5]. The main part of this talk addresses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer-based, all-optical, VBir experimental proposal [6] in a pump-probe configuration combining a 10 PW pump laser and a lower power pulsed probe beam. Taking into account realistic pump laser parameters (25 fs pulse duration and a focus waist 3-5 µm), for a nearly counter-propagating probe laser beam the ideal probe duration is found to be significantly longer (100 to 700 fs), thus allowing a lower minimum required probe power [6]. We discuss in detail an experimental scheme able to implement the required pump-probe interaction geometry. In order to mitigate the undesired effect of mechanical vibrations, we also put forward a compensation mechanism, able to significantly reduce this unwanted effect [6]. Finally, we discuss avenues of further improvement via the employment of quantum metrology, with a case study for a coherent plus squeezed vacuum input.

Bibliography

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[2] O. Halpern, Phys. Rev. 44, 855 (1933); R. Karplus, M. Neuman, Phys. Rev., 83, 776 (1951); B. de Tollis, Nuovo Cim 35, 1182 (1965)[3] Z. Bialynicka-Birula, I. Bialynicki-Birula, Phys. Rev. D 2, 2341 (1970); F. Karbstein, Particles 3, 39 (2020).
[4] J. S. Toll PhD thesis, Princeton University Press (1952); J. Klein, B. Nigam, Phys. Rev., 135, B1279 (1964); E. Aleksandrov, A. Ansel'm, AN Moskalev, JETP 62 680 (1985).
[5] A. Cadène et al. Eur. Phys. J. D 68, 16 (2014); A. Ejlli et al. Phys. Rep. 871, 1 (2020); Hans-Peter Schlenvoigt et al., Phys. Scr. 91, 023010 (2016); Y. Nakamiya, K. Homma, Phys. Rev. D 96, 053002 (2017), B. Shen et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 60, 044002 (2018); D. Brandenburg et al., Rep. Prog. Phys. 86, 083901 (2023).
[6] S. Ataman,  Phys. Rev. A, 97, 063811 (2018); S. Ataman, Y. Nakamiya, Phys. Scr. 100, 075537 (2025).

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