2007/03/31 by A. Ferrando, Albert Ferrando, Humberto Michinel +3 · 5 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.99.150404
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 (2007) 150404 · 4 pages, 1 figure. Some references were added, and the comparison with AC Kerr effect has been improved
openalex publication_date 2007/10/12 · arxiv created 2007/10/15 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We show that QED nonlinear effects imply a phase correction to the linear evolution of electromagnetic waves in vacuum. We provide explicit solutions of the modified Maxwell equations for the propagation of a superposition of two plane waves and calculate analytically and numerically the corresponding phase shift. This provides a new framework for the search of all-optical signatures of photon-photon scattering in vacuum. In particular, we propose an experiment for measuring the phase shift in projected high-power laser facilities.