A New Bound on Light-by-Light Scattering in the Low-Energy Regime

@misc{matheron2026bound,
  title = {{A New Bound on Light-by-Light Scattering in the Low-Energy Regime}},
  author = {Aimé Matheron and Michal Šmíd and Felix Karbstein and Sebastian Göde and Willi Hippler and Robert Lötzsch and Naser Ahmadiniaz and Michal Andrzejewski and Sergey Antipov and Carsten Baehtz and Christina Bömer and Victorien Bouffetier and Erik Brambrink and Jakub Bulička and Samuele Di Dio Cafiso and Rafael Celestre and Jaromír Chalupský and Thomas E. Cowan and James P. Edwards and Sebastián Franchino-Viñas and Holger Gies and Jörg Grenzer and Travis Griffin and Věra Hájková and Jens Hauser and Thomas Heinzl and Uwe Hernandez Acosta and Peter Hilz and Hauke Höppner and Alžběta Horynová and Lingen Huang and Oliver Humphries and Šimon Jelínek and Libor Juha and Pooyan Khademi and Ben King and Christian Kohlfürst and Dietrich Krebs and Alejandro Laso-García and Alexander J. Macleod and Berit Marx-Glowna and Masruri Masruri and Nikita Medvedev and Anthony Mercuri-Baron and Elena A. Mosman and Motoaki Nakatsutsumi and Gerhard G. Paulus and Jennifer Popp and Thomas R. Preston and Isabella Probst and Sripati V. Rahul and Lisa Randolph and Ralf Röhlsberger and Thomas Roth and Sakshath Sadashivaiah and Felipe C. Salgado and Roland Sauerbrey and Alexander Sävert and Hans-Peter Schlenvoigt and Sebastian M. Schmidt},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.04531},
  eprint = {2611.04531},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04531},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - A New Bound on Light-by-Light Scattering in the Low-Energy Regime
AU  - Aimé Matheron
AU  - Michal Šmíd
AU  - Felix Karbstein
AU  - Sebastian Göde
AU  - Willi Hippler
AU  - Robert Lötzsch
AU  - Naser Ahmadiniaz
AU  - Michal Andrzejewski
AU  - Sergey Antipov
AU  - Carsten Baehtz
AU  - Christina Bömer
AU  - Victorien Bouffetier
AU  - Erik Brambrink
AU  - Jakub Bulička
AU  - Samuele Di Dio Cafiso
AU  - Rafael Celestre
AU  - Jaromír Chalupský
AU  - Thomas E. Cowan
AU  - James P. Edwards
AU  - Sebastián Franchino-Viñas
AU  - Holger Gies
AU  - Jörg Grenzer
AU  - Travis Griffin
AU  - Věra Hájková
AU  - Jens Hauser
AU  - Thomas Heinzl
AU  - Uwe Hernandez Acosta
AU  - Peter Hilz
AU  - Hauke Höppner
AU  - Alžběta Horynová
AU  - Lingen Huang
AU  - Oliver Humphries
AU  - Šimon Jelínek
AU  - Libor Juha
AU  - Pooyan Khademi
AU  - Ben King
AU  - Christian Kohlfürst
AU  - Dietrich Krebs
AU  - Alejandro Laso-García
AU  - Alexander J. Macleod
AU  - Berit Marx-Glowna
AU  - Masruri Masruri
AU  - Nikita Medvedev
AU  - Anthony Mercuri-Baron
AU  - Elena A. Mosman
AU  - Motoaki Nakatsutsumi
AU  - Gerhard G. Paulus
AU  - Jennifer Popp
AU  - Thomas R. Preston
AU  - Isabella Probst
AU  - Sripati V. Rahul
AU  - Lisa Randolph
AU  - Ralf Röhlsberger
AU  - Thomas Roth
AU  - Sakshath Sadashivaiah
AU  - Felipe C. Salgado
AU  - Roland Sauerbrey
AU  - Alexander Sävert
AU  - Hans-Peter Schlenvoigt
AU  - Sebastian M. Schmidt
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/03
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.04531
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.04531
AB  - The superposition principle at the heart of optics states that electromagnetic fields do not interact in vacuum. This principle is not universal, instead electromagnetic fields couple weakly via quantum vacuum fluctuations. Striking consequences are light-by-light scattering and vacuum birefringence. Experimental results from colliding X-ray free-electron and optical high-intensity lasers combined with dark-field detection and polarimetry for background suppression are reported. This approach yields the most stringent bound for light-by-light scattering in the low-energy regime achieved to date -- improving upon previous experimental limits by ten orders of magnitude -- and paves the way for precision measurements.
ER  -