Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulses

Hypothetical oscillations of probe photons into axion-like particles might be revealed by exploiting the strong fields of high-intensity laser pulses. Considering an arbitrary plane-wave background, we determine the polarization tensor induced by the quantum fluctuations of the axion field and use i...

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Main Authors: S. Villalba-Chávez, T. Podszus, C. Müller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017-06-01
Series:Physics Letters B
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269317302319
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author S. Villalba-Chávez
T. Podszus
C. Müller
author_facet S. Villalba-Chávez
T. Podszus
C. Müller
author_sort S. Villalba-Chávez
collection DOAJ
description Hypothetical oscillations of probe photons into axion-like particles might be revealed by exploiting the strong fields of high-intensity laser pulses. Considering an arbitrary plane-wave background, we determine the polarization tensor induced by the quantum fluctuations of the axion field and use it to calculate how the polarimetric properties of an initially linear-polarized probe beam are modified. We find that various experimental setups based on contemporary facilities and instrumentation might lead to new exclusion bounds on the parameter space of these particle candidates. The impact of the pulse shape on the discovery potential is studied via a comparison between the cases in which the wave is modulated by a Gaussian envelope and a sin2 profile. This analysis shows that the upper limits resulting from the ellipticity are relatively insensitive to this change, whereas those arising from the rotation of the polarization plane turn out to be more dependent on the field shape.
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spelling doaj.art-94d9b52b75f743088d738b3d32eed7aa2022-12-22T02:47:43ZengElsevierPhysics Letters B0370-26931873-24452017-06-01769C23324110.1016/j.physletb.2017.03.043Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulsesS. Villalba-ChávezT. PodszusC. MüllerHypothetical oscillations of probe photons into axion-like particles might be revealed by exploiting the strong fields of high-intensity laser pulses. Considering an arbitrary plane-wave background, we determine the polarization tensor induced by the quantum fluctuations of the axion field and use it to calculate how the polarimetric properties of an initially linear-polarized probe beam are modified. We find that various experimental setups based on contemporary facilities and instrumentation might lead to new exclusion bounds on the parameter space of these particle candidates. The impact of the pulse shape on the discovery potential is studied via a comparison between the cases in which the wave is modulated by a Gaussian envelope and a sin2 profile. This analysis shows that the upper limits resulting from the ellipticity are relatively insensitive to this change, whereas those arising from the rotation of the polarization plane turn out to be more dependent on the field shape.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269317302319Beyond the Standard ModelAxion-like particlesVacuum polarizationLaser Fields
spellingShingle S. Villalba-Chávez
T. Podszus
C. Müller
Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulses
Physics Letters B
Beyond the Standard Model
Axion-like particles
Vacuum polarization
Laser Fields
title Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulses
title_full Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulses
title_fullStr Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulses
title_full_unstemmed Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulses
title_short Polarization-operator approach to optical signatures of axion-like particles in strong laser pulses
title_sort polarization operator approach to optical signatures of axion like particles in strong laser pulses
topic Beyond the Standard Model
Axion-like particles
Vacuum polarization
Laser Fields
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269317302319
work_keys_str_mv AT svillalbachavez polarizationoperatorapproachtoopticalsignaturesofaxionlikeparticlesinstronglaserpulses
AT tpodszus polarizationoperatorapproachtoopticalsignaturesofaxionlikeparticlesinstronglaserpulses
AT cmuller polarizationoperatorapproachtoopticalsignaturesofaxionlikeparticlesinstronglaserpulses