QED-VACUUM · A new experimental apparatus for a fundamental test of quantum electrodynamics: the measure of the magnetic birefringence of vacuum.

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Project objective

This proposal is part of a new research project to measure the anisotropy of vacuum induced by a high magnetic field. This is one of the most important predictions of quantum electrodynamic theory, but has not been observed yet. The effect that will be measured is the ellipticity acquired by a linearly polarized laser beam when passing through a high magnetic field region in vacuum. A high-finesse optical cavity will be used to enhance the optical path of the beam in the magnetic field region. With the present technology an increase of the optical path up to one million times is achievable. The key part of the experimental apparatus is a specially designed 1.5 meter long 10 Tesla pulsed magnet. The ellipticity produced by such an high magnetic field will be measured using the state-of-the-art in high-sensitive ellipsometry.The project will result in an advance in high intense magnetic field technology as well as in the applied optical field of high sensitive ellipsometry. From a scientific point of view, besides the great challenge to measure for the first time the magnetic vacuum birefringence, the implications on cosmology and astroparticle physics are also very important: the experiment test both the energy of the quantum vacuum, whose value influences the universe dynamics, and the existence of new particles which are dark matter candidates.

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Participants

• CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE · PARISCoordinatorFrance

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