85 research outputs found
Photon energy upshift by gravitational waves from a compact source
We consider the propagation of light from an isolated source that also emits gravitational waves. The eikonal approach is employed to determine the transfer of energy from the gravitational to electromagnetic radiation. A mechanism is found in which a photon "surfs" on the gravitational wave. For black hole events, a significant upshift of photon energy can occur according to a power-law buildup over the radial distance. This surprising effect may be responsible for some of the unexplained high energy phenomena in the cosmos involving gamma rays or other astro-particles
The influence of temporal coherence on the dynamical Casimir effect
We study the dynamical Casimir effect in the presence of a finite coherence
time, which is associated with a finite quality factor of the optical cavity.
We use the time refraction model, where a fixed cavity with a modulated optical
medium, replaces the empty cavity with a vibrating mirror. Temporal coherence
is described with the help of cavity quasi-mode operators. Asymptotic
expressions for the number of photon pairs generated from vacuum are derived.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
Vacuum effects in a vibrating cavity: time refraction, dynamical Casimir effect, and effective Unruh acceleration
Two different quantum processes are considered in a perturbed vacuum cavity:
time refraction and dynamical Casimir effect. They are shown to be physically
equivalent, and are predicted to be unstable, leading to an exponential growth
in the number of photons created in the cavity. The concept of an effective
Unruh acceleration for these processes is also introduced, in order to make a
comparison in terms of radiation efficiency, with the Unruh radiation
associated with an accelerated frame in unbounded vacuum.Comment: 5 pages, version to appear in Physics Letters
Photon acceleration in vacuum
A new process associated with the nonlinear optical properties of the
electromagnetic vacuum, as predicted by quantum electrodynamics, is described.
This can be called photon acceleration in vacuum, and corresponds to the
frequency shift that takes place when a given test photon interacts with an
intense beam of background radiation.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, version to appear in Phys. Lett.
Particle acceleration by twisted laser beams
We consider particle acceleration in plasmas, using twisted laser beams, or beams with orbital angular momentum. We discuss different acceleration processes using two LG laser modes, which include donut wakefield, beat-wave and self-torque acceleration, and compare the respective properties. We show that a self-torque configuration is able to produce azimuthal acceleration and can therefore be considered as an alternative method to produce helical electron beams
Axions and their Relatives
A review of the status of axions and axion-like particles is given. Special
attention is devoted to the recent results of the PVLAS collaboration, which
are in conflict with the CAST data and with the astrophysical constraints.
Solutions to the puzzle and the implications for new physics are discussed. The
question of axion-like particles being dark matter is also addressed.Comment: Updated version of an invited talk at the Axion Training (CERN,
December 2005). To appear as a Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer-Verlag),
edited by B. Beltran, M. Kuster and G. Raffel
Nonlinear coupled Alfv\'{e}n and gravitational waves
In this paper we consider nonlinear interaction between gravitational and
electromagnetic waves in a strongly magnetized plasma. More specifically, we
investigate the propagation of gravitational waves with the direction of
propagation perpendicular to a background magnetic field, and the coupling to
compressional Alfv\'{e}n waves. The gravitational waves are considered in the
high frequency limit and the plasma is modelled by a multifluid description. We
make a self-consistent, weakly nonlinear analysis of the Einstein-Maxwell
system and derive a wave equation for the coupled gravitational and
electromagnetic wave modes. A WKB-approximation is then applied and as a result
we obtain the nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation for the slowly varying wave
amplitudes. The analysis is extended to 3D wave pulses, and we discuss the
applications to radiation generated from pulsar binary mergers. It turns out
that the electromagnetic radiation from a binary merger should experience a
focusing effect, that in principle could be detected.Comment: 20 pages, revtex4, accepted in PR
Quantum Vacuum Experiments Using High Intensity Lasers
The quantum vacuum constitutes a fascinating medium of study, in particular
since near-future laser facilities will be able to probe the nonlinear nature
of this vacuum. There has been a large number of proposed tests of the
low-energy, high intensity regime of quantum electrodynamics (QED) where the
nonlinear aspects of the electromagnetic vacuum comes into play, and we will
here give a short description of some of these. Such studies can shed light,
not only on the validity of QED, but also on certain aspects of nonperturbative
effects, and thus also give insights for quantum field theories in general.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figur
QCD Corrections to QED Vacuum Polarization
We compute QCD corrections to QED calculations for vacuum polarization in
background magnetic fields. Formally, the diagram for virtual loops
is identical to the one for virtual loops. However due to
confinement, or to the growth of as decreases, a direct
calculation of the diagram is not allowed. At large we consider the
virtual diagram, in the intermediate region we discuss the role of
the contribution of quark condensates \left and at the
low-energy limit we consider the , as well as charged pion
loops. Although these effects seem to be out of the measurement accuracy of
photon-photon laboratory experiments they may be relevant for -ray
burst propagation. In particular, for emissions from the center of the galaxy
(8.5 kpc), we show that the mixing between the neutral pseudo-scalar pion
and photons renders a deviation from the power-law spectrum in the
range. As for scalar quark condensates \left and
virtual loops are relevant only for very high radiation density
and very strong magnetic fields of order .Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures; Final versio
Fluctuations, dissipation and the dynamical Casimir effect
Vacuum fluctuations provide a fundamental source of dissipation for systems
coupled to quantum fields by radiation pressure. In the dynamical Casimir
effect, accelerating neutral bodies in free space give rise to the emission of
real photons while experiencing a damping force which plays the role of a
radiation reaction force. Analog models where non-stationary conditions for the
electromagnetic field simulate the presence of moving plates are currently
under experimental investigation. A dissipative force might also appear in the
case of uniform relative motion between two bodies, thus leading to a new kind
of friction mechanism without mechanical contact. In this paper, we review
recent advances on the dynamical Casimir and non-contact friction effects,
highlighting their common physical origin.Comment: 39 pages, 4 figures. Review paper to appear in Lecture Notes in
Physics, Volume on Casimir Physics, edited by Diego Dalvit, Peter Milonni,
David Roberts, and Felipe da Rosa. Minor changes, a reference adde
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