Light bullets and optical collapse in vacuum

Brodin, Gert; Stenflo, L.; Anderson, D.; Lisak, M.; Marklund, Mattias; Johannisson, Pontus

doi:10.1016/s0375-9601(02)01512-8

Cited by 29 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…18 and 19, and references therein͒, as well as collective effects, like the self-focusing of beams 20 or the formation of light bullets. 21 Recently, it has also been shown, using analytical means, that these effects give rise to collapsing structure in radiation gases, 22 results that have been extended and confirmed by, e.g., numerical studies. 23 These studies all assume that the dispersive/diffractive effect of vacuum polarization is negligible, and this of course puts constraints on the allowed space and time variations of the fields ͑see Ref.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…This in conjunction with the ponderomotive force plasma evacuation due to the presence of intense laser pulses has led to speculations that this may indeed foster the environment for photon-photon scattering to be detected. 28 Furthermore, the creation of multidimensional high intensity electromagnetic pulses also holds the promise of generating pulse collapse, 21,29 something that could possibly be achieved using guiding structures ͑such as plasma boundaries͒. Such pulse collapse would give rise to intensities never before reached in the laboratory, in itself giving hope of producing a pair plasma with future lasers.…”

Section: Preliminariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nonlinear effects associated with interactions of intense photons with a photon gas

et al. 2004

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The derivative correction to the Heisenberg–Euler Lagrangian has been introduced. A general dispersion relation for a photon traveling on a slowly varying background electromagnetic field has been presented. A set of equations describing the nonlinear propagation of an electromagnetic pulse on a radiation fluid background is then derived. Novel modulational and filamentational instabilities are found, and using numerical methods, it has been shown that electromagnetic pulses may collapse and split into pulse trains. Also presented are analytical results concerning the collapse, split, and Mach cone formation. The implications of the results are discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Preliminariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear effects associated with interactions of intense photons with a photon gas

et al. 2004

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“…Brodin et al (2001). However, a more convenient and elegant approach, which was pioneered by Brodin et al (2003) and which gives the same result, starts directly with the Lagrangian density (5).…”

Section: Cavity Mode Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear collective effects in photon-photon and photon-plasma interactions

2006

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We consider strong-field effects in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas and high intensity laser and cavity systems, related to quantum electrodynamical (QED) photon-photon scattering. Current state-of-the-art laser facilities are close to reaching energy scales at which laboratory astrophysics will become possible. In such high energy density laboratory astrophysical systems, quantum electrodynamics will play a crucial role in the dynamics of plasmas and indeed the vacuum itself. Developments such as the free electron laser may also give a means for exploring remote violent events such as supernovae in a laboratory environment. At the same time, superconducting cavities have steadily increased their quality factors, and quantum non-demolition measurements are capable of retrieving information from systems consisting of a few photons. Thus, not only will QED effects such as elastic photon-photon scattering be important in laboratory experiments, it may also be directly measurable in cavity experiments. Here we describe the implications of collective interactions between photons and photonplasma systems. We give an overview of strong field vacuum effects, as formulated through the Heisenberg-Euler Lagrangian. Based on the dispersion relation for a single test photon travelling in a slowly varying background electromagnetic field, a set of equations describing the nonlinear propagation of an electromagnetic pulse on a radiation-plasma is derived. The stability of the governing equations is discussed, and it is shown using numerical methods that electromagnetic pulses may collapse and split into pulse trains, as well as be trapped in a relativistic electron hole. Effects, such as the generation of novel electromagnetic modes, introduced by QED in pair plasmas is described. Applications to laser-plasma systems and astrophysical environments are discussed.

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“…So, the vacuum needs to be modified by an external electromagnetic field or with a wave guide for this effect to become important. This self-interaction can have a self-lensing effect on the pulse if the vacuum is properly modified, and this can lead to effects such as photon splitting in the presence of an external magnetic field [18], the formation of light bullets 1 in suitable waveguides [21] or properly modulated background fields [22], or pulse collapse in an intense gas of photons [23]- [25].…”

Section: Self-lensing Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum vacuum experiments using high intensity lasers

2009

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The quantum vacuum constitutes a fascinating medium of study, in particular since near-future laser facilities will be able to probe the nonlinear nature of this vacuum. There has been a large number of proposed tests of the low-energy, high intensity regime of quantum electrodynamics (QED) where the nonlinear aspects of the electromagnetic vacuum come into play, and we will here give a short description of some of these. Such studies can shed light, not only on the validity of QED, but also on certain aspects of nonperturbative effects, and thus also give insights for quantum field theories in general.

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Light bullets and optical collapse in vacuum

Cited by 29 publications

References 7 publications

Nonlinear effects associated with interactions of intense photons with a photon gas

Nonlinear effects associated with interactions of intense photons with a photon gas

Nonlinear collective effects in photon-photon and photon-plasma interactions

Quantum vacuum experiments using high intensity lasers

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