Open AccessВакуумное двулучепреломление в поле плоской электромагнитной волны
Author(s) -
И.А. Александров,
В.М. Шабаев
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optika i spektroskopiâ
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2782-6694
pISSN - 0030-4034
DOI - 10.21883/os.2021.07.51084.2067-21
Subject(s) - physics , polarization (electrochemistry) , amplitude , monochromatic color , plane wave , monochromatic electromagnetic plane wave , photon , birefringence , electromagnetic radiation , electromagnetic field , optics , photon polarization , laser , computational physics , quantum mechanics , chemistry
We study the process of vacuum birefringence in a strong electromagnetic field: a probe photon changes its polarization while traversing a counterpropagating laser beam. To describe this phenomenon, we calculate the polarization tensor in the field of a plane monochromatic wave to leading order with respect to its amplitude. The main goal of the study is to compare the results with the data obtained within the locally constant field approximation (LCFA). Here we identify the domain of the LCFA applicability in the case of a plane-wave external background. It is shown that the frequency of the probe photon and that of the external field are symmetrically involved in the relative uncertainty. The exact treatment of the spatiotemporal dependence beyond the LCFA becomes necessary at the energy scale 0.1-1 MeV.