Abstract
Vacuum polarization, an effect originally predicted nearly 70 years ago, is still yet to be directly detected despite significant experimental effort. Previous attempts have made use of large liquid-helium cooled electromagnets which inadvertently generate spurious signals that mask the desired signal. We present an approach for the ultrasensitive detection of optical birefringence that can be usefully applied to a laboratory detection of vacuum polarization. The technique has a predicted birefringence measurement sensitivity of Deltansimilar to10(-20) in a 1 s measurement. When combined with the extreme polarizing fields achievable in this design we predict that a vacuum polarization signal will be seen in a measurement of just a few days in duration.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 033801-1-033801-9 |
Journal | Physical Review A |
Volume | 70 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2004 |