Probing the quantum vacuum with petawatt lasers

Frontiers in Theoretical and Applied Physics/UAE 2017

Hill, W.T.^1 ; Roso, L.^2

Joint Quantum Institute, Institute for Physical Science and Technology, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park

MD

20742, United States^1

Centro de Láseres Pulsados, CLPU, Salamanca, Spain^2

关键词: Critical intensity;    Petawatt laser;    Pulse durations;    Pulse energies;    Quantum vacuum;    Schwinger limits;    The standard model;    Virtual particles;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/869/1/012015/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/869/1/012015

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Due to the bosonic nature of the photon, increasing the peak intensity through a combination of raising the pulse energy and decreasing the pulse duration will pile up more and more photons within the same finite region of space. In the absence of material, this continues until the vacuum is stressed to the point of breakdown and virtual particles become real. The critical intensity where this occurs for electrons and positrons - the so-called Schwinger limit - is predicted to be ∼ 1029W/cm2. At substantially lower intensities, however, nonlinear aspects of the quantum vacuum associated with polarization of the vacuum can be explored. These studies become viable at the petawatt level where 1023W/cm2and above can be reached. This is an era into which we are just embarking that will provide critical tests of QED and theories beyond the Standard Model of particle physics.