Quantum interaction among intense laser beams in vacuum

Abstract

Abstract. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) predicts that electromagnetic fields interact among each other also in vacuum. We study the possibility of experimentally revealing this interaction by using soon available laser fields with intensities of order of 10 23 -10 26 W/cm 2 . First, a few processes are first reviewed where vacuum polarization effects can be detected, like laser-assisted photon-photon scattering and the light diffraction by a strong standing wave. The possibility of enhancing these effects by using a plasma is also mentioned. Finally, the process of photon splitting in a laser field is discussed in detail together with its possible experimental observation.

Pair production in counter-propagating laser beams

“…Within the next few years, powerful lasers may be able to realize intensities of 10 23 to 10 24 W cm −2 in the laboratory, enabling novel physical processes to be investigated [1][2][3]. One of these is the prolific production of electron-positron pairs predicted to occur when an electron is accelerated in counter-propagating laser beams [4].…”