Vacuum Birefringence in a Rotating Magnetic Field

Abstract

We calculate the vacuum polarization-induced ellipticity acquired by a linearly polarized laser beam of angular frequency $\bar{\omega }$ on traversing a region containing a transverse magnetic field rotating with a small angular velocity $\Omega$ around the beam axis. The transmitted beam contains the fundamental frequency $\bar{\omega }$ and weak sidebands of frequency $\bar{\omega }\pm 2\Omega$, but no other sidebands. To first order in small quantities, the ellipticity acquired by the transmitted beam is independent of $\Omega$, and is the same as would be calculated in the approximation of regarding the magnetic field as fixed at its instantaneous angular orientation, using the standard vacuum birefringence formulas for a static magnetic field. Also to first order, there is no rotation of the polarization plane of the transmitted beam. Analogous statements hold when the magnetic field strength is slowly varying in time.

20 pages; v2 has simplification of results of Eqs. (9a,b), and new Sec. 5 giving a perturbation theory derivation of results; v3 has minor revisions suggested by referee--this is final published version; v4, typos corrected

Cited by in corpus (15)

• Light from the Hidden Sector
• New bounds on millicharged particles from cosmology
• Axions and "Light Shining Through a Wall": A Detailed Theoretical Analysis
• The rotation of magnetic field does not impact vacuum birefringence
• Effective Lagrangian at Cubic Order in Electromagnetic Fields and Vacuum Birefringence
• Impact of spin-zero particle-photon interactions on light polarization in external magnetic fields
• Extending the reach of axion-photon regeneration experiments towards larger masses with phase shift plates
• A New Look at the Quantum Mechanics of the Harmonic Oscillator
• Equivalence principle and electromagnetic field: no birefringence, no dilaton, and no axion
• Propagation of field disturbances in the Yang-Mills theory
• Birefringence and non-transversality of light propagation in an ultra-strongly magnetized vacuum
• Effective field theory approach to light propagation in an external magnetic field
• QED vacuum fluctuations and induced electric dipole moment of the neutron
• A Pseudo-Photon in Non-Trivial Background Fields
• Integral Equation for Scattering of Light by a Strong Magnetostatic Field in Vacuum