Anisotropic effects of background fields on Born-Infeld electromagnetic waves

AIELLO M., BENGOCHEA G. R., FERRARO R.

PHYSICS LETTERS A

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2007 vol. 361 p. 9 - 12

0375-9601

We show exact solutions of Born-Infeld theory for electromagneticplane waves propagating in the presence of static backgroundfields. The non-linear character of Born-Infeld equationsgenerates an interaction between the background and the wave thatchanges the speed of propagation and adds a longitudinal componentto the wave. As a consequence, in a magnetic background the raydirection differs from the propagation direction --a behaviorresembling the one of a wave in an anisotropic medium--. Thisfeature could open up a way to experimental tests of Born-Infeldtheory.