scholarly journals Experimental estimates of the photon background in a potential light-by-light scattering study

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Doyle ◽  
Pooyan Khademi ◽  
Peter Hilz ◽  
Alexander Sävert ◽  
Georg Schaefer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Power ◽  
Single Photon ◽  
Strong Field ◽  
Short Pulse ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Background Suppression ◽  
Focal Region ◽  
Quantum Vacuum ◽  
Photon Scattering ◽  
Residual Gas

Abstract High power short pulse lasers provide a promising route to study the strong field effects of the quantum vacuum, for example by direct photon-photon scattering in the all-optical regime. Theoretical predictions based on realistic laser parameters achievable today or in the near future predict scattering of a few photons with colliding Petawatt laser pulses, requiring single photon sensitive detection schemes and very good spatio-temporal filtering and background suppression. In this article, we present experimental investigations of this photon background by employing only a single high power laser pulse tightly focused in residual gas of a vacuum chamber. The focal region was imaged onto a single-photon sensitive, time gated camera. As no detectable quantum vacuum signature was expected in our case, the setup allowed for characterization and first mitigation of background contributions. For the setup employed, scattering off surfaces of imperfect optics dominated below the residual gas pressures of 1×10-4mbar. Extrapolation of the findings to intensities relevant for photon-photon scattering studies is discussed.

scholarly journals Measuring vacuum polarization with high-power lasers

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. King ◽  
T. Heinzl
Keyword(s):  
High Power ◽  
Quantum Electrodynamics ◽  
Vacuum Polarization ◽  
Dielectric Material ◽  
Real Photon ◽  
Quantum Vacuum ◽  
Photon Scattering ◽  
High Power Lasers ◽  
Weakly Nonlinear ◽  
Polarization Effects

When exposed to intense electromagnetic fields, the quantum vacuum is expected to exhibit properties of a polarizable medium akin to a weakly nonlinear dielectric material. Various schemes have been proposed to measure such vacuum polarization effects using a combination of high- power lasers. Motivated by several planned experiments, we provide an overview of experimental signatures that have been suggested to confirm this prediction of quantum electrodynamics of real photon–photon scattering.

scholarly journals Reflecting petawatt lasers off relativistic plasma mirrors: a realistic path to the Schwinger limit

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Quéré ◽  
Henri Vincenti
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
High Power ◽  
Quantum Electrodynamics ◽  
Laser Light ◽  
Optical Breakdown ◽  
Relativistic Plasma ◽  
Laser Beams ◽  
Relativistic Motion ◽  
Quantum Vacuum ◽  
High Power Lasers

Abstract The quantum vacuum plays a central role in physics. Quantum electrodynamics (QED) predicts that the properties of the fermionic quantum vacuum can be probed by extremely large electromagnetic fields. The typical field amplitudes required correspond to the onset of the ‘optical breakdown’ of this vacuum, expected at light intensities >4.7×1029 W/cm2. Approaching this ‘Schwinger limit’ would enable testing of major but still unverified predictions of QED. Yet, the Schwinger limit is seven orders of magnitude above the present record in light intensity achieved by high-power lasers. To close this considerable gap, a promising paradigm consists of reflecting these laser beams off a mirror in relativistic motion, to induce a Doppler effect that compresses the light pulse in time down to the attosecond range and converts it to shorter wavelengths, which can then be focused much more tightly than the initial laser light. However, this faces a major experimental hurdle: how to generate such relativistic mirrors? In this article, we explain how this challenge could nowadays be tackled by using so-called ‘relativistic plasma mirrors’. We argue that approaching the Schwinger limit in the coming years by applying this scheme to the latest generation of petawatt-class lasers is a challenging but realistic objective.

scholarly journals Observing quantum coherence from photons scattered in free-space

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shihan Sajeed ◽  
Thomas Jennewein
Keyword(s):  
Free Space ◽  
Quantum Coherence ◽  
Quantum Communication ◽  
Single Photon ◽  
Detector Array ◽  
Line Of Sight ◽  
Background Suppression ◽  
Single Photon Detector ◽  
High Background ◽  
Non Line Of Sight

AbstractQuantum channels in free-space, an essential prerequisite for fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and quantum technologies in open space, have so far been based on direct line-of-sight because the predominant approaches for photon-encoding, including polarization and spatial modes, are not compatible with randomly scattered photons. Here we demonstrate a novel approach to transfer and recover quantum coherence from scattered, non-line-of-sight photons analyzed in a multimode and imaging interferometer for time-bins, combined with photon detection based on a 8 × 8 single-photon-detector-array. The observed time-bin visibility for scattered photons remained at a high 95% over a wide scattering angle range of −450 to +450, while the individual pixels in the detector array resolve or track an image in its field of view of ca. 0.5°. Using our method, we demonstrate the viability of two novel applications. Firstly, using scattered photons as an indirect channel for quantum communication thereby enabling non-line-of-sight quantum communication with background suppression, and secondly, using the combined arrival time and quantum coherence to enhance the contrast of low-light imaging and laser ranging under high background light. We believe our method will instigate new lines for research and development on applying photon coherence from scattered signals to quantum sensing, imaging, and communication in free-space environments.

scholarly journals A High-Power Tunable Short-Pulse XeCl Laser

1986 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
Akihiko TAHAHASHI ◽  
Osamu MATSUMOTO ◽  
Mitsuo MAEDA
Keyword(s):  
High Power ◽  
Short Pulse ◽  
Xecl Laser

scholarly journals Derivative corrections to the Heisenberg-Euler effective action

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Karbstein
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fields ◽  
Effective Action ◽  
Vacuum Polarization ◽  
Strong Field ◽  
Background Field ◽  
Polarization Tensor ◽  
Quantum Vacuum ◽  
Electron Positron ◽  
Vacuum Polarization Tensor ◽  
Electron Positron Pair

Abstract We show that the leading derivative corrections to the Heisenberg-Euler effective action can be determined efficiently from the vacuum polarization tensor evaluated in a homogeneous constant background field. After deriving the explicit parameter-integral representation for the leading derivative corrections in generic electromagnetic fields at one loop, we specialize to the cases of magnetic- and electric-like field configurations characterized by the vanishing of one of the secular invariants of the electromagnetic field. In these cases, closed-form results and the associated all-orders weak- and strong-field expansions can be worked out. One immediate application is the leading derivative correction to the renowned Schwinger-formula describing the decay of the quantum vacuum via electron-positron pair production in slowly-varying electric fields.

Broadband amplification at Kr 2 F trimer transition for short-pulse high-power laser applications

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey O. Levchenko ◽  
Nikolai N. Ustinovskii ◽  
Vladimir D. Zvorykin
Keyword(s):  
High Power ◽  
Short Pulse ◽  
High Power Laser ◽  
Power Laser ◽  
Laser Applications
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