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arXiv · hep-ph/0601076

On the Observation of Vacuum Birefringence

T. Heinzl·B. Liesfeld·K. -U. Amthor·H. Schwoerer·R. Sauerbrey·A. Wipf
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Abstract

We suggest an experiment to observe vacuum birefringence induced by intense laser fields. A high-intensity laser pulse is focused to ultra-relativistic intensity and polarizes the vacuum which then acts like a birefringent medium. The latter is probed by a linearly polarized x-ray pulse. We calculate the resulting ellipticity signal within strong-field QED assuming Gaussian beams. The laser technology required for detecting the signal will be available within the next three years.

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T. Heinzl, B. Liesfeld, K. -U. Amthor, H. Schwoerer, R. Sauerbrey, A. Wipf. 2006-01-10. On the Observation of Vacuum Birefringence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2006.06.053

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