Nonlinear electrodynamics for the vacuum of Dirac materials. Photon magnetic properties and radiation pressures

• Main Authors: Jorge, A. W. Romero, Martínez, A. Pérez, Querts, E. Rodríguez
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-02-2024
• Subjects: Physics - High Energy Physics - Theory
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2402.01042

We investigate the magnetic properties of photons propagating through Dirac
materials in a magnetic field, considering both vacuum and medium
contributions. Photon propagation properties are obtained through a
second-order expansion of non-linear Euler-Heisenberg electrodynamics at finite
density and temperature considering Dirac material parameters (Dirac fine
structure constant, band gap and Fermi velocity). Total magnetization
(including electrons and photon contributions) and photon-effective magnetic
moment are computed. Observables such as photon energy density, radiation
pressure, and Poynting vector are obtained by an average of components of the
energy-momentum tensor. All quantities are expressed in terms of Lagrangian
derivatives. Those related to the vacuum are valid for any value of the
external magnetic field, and both the weak and strong field limits are
recovered. We discuss some ideas of experiments that may contribute to testing
in Dirac materials the phenomenology of the strong magnetic field in the
quantum electrodynamic vacuum and how non-linear corrections on the
magnetization, radiation pressure, and birefringence, are amplified up to
$10^3$ times QED corrections.