Enhancement of laser interaction with vacuum for a large angular aperture.

ABSTRACT

We study the nonlinear interaction of laser light with vacuum for a large angular aperture at electromagnetic field strengths far below the Schwinger limit. The polarization and magnetization in vacuum irradiated by a focused laser beam clearly differ from those in matter. This is due to the dependence on the Lorentz invariant, which results in a ring-shaped radiation distribution in vacuum. The number of the radiated photons increases nonlinearly with increasing angular aperture.