Quantum interaction among intense laser beams in vacuum

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 1023-1023W/ cm2. 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. © EDP Sciences/Società Italiana di Fisica/Springer-Verlag 2008.