Light, from darkness. Oxford researchers have just simulated one of quantum physics’ most mind-bending predictions — and it could soon be tested in the lab.
Key Points at a Glance
- Oxford team ran first-ever real-time 3D simulations of quantum vacuum effects
- They recreated ‘vacuum four-wave mixing’ — light appearing from empty space
- The study models how intense lasers polarize virtual particles in a vacuum
- Simulations pave the way for high-power laser experiments in the real world
- Could help detect exotic particles like axions and explore dark matter candidates
In a stunning leap from theory to simulation, physicists at the University of Oxford have recreated a bizarre quantum phenomenon where laser beams generate light — not from matter, but from the vacuum of space itself. Their 3D real-time simulations reveal how focused laser pulses can cause photons to scatter off each other, as though light were ricocheting in empty space.
This isn’t science fiction. The effect, known as vacuum four-wave mixing, is a rare quantum process predicted decades ago. It suggests that even a vacuum — long considered a void — is brimming with virtual particles: fleeting pairs of electrons and positrons that pop into and out of existence. When hit with ultra-intense laser fields, these ghostly pairs polarize and interact, causing a new laser beam to emerge from apparent nothingness.
“This is a major step toward experimental confirmation of quantum effects that have been mostly theoretical until now,” said Professor Peter Norreys, co-author of the study published in Communications Physics.
The simulations were performed using an enhanced version of OSIRIS, a software platform capable of modeling how lasers interact with matter and plasma. But in this case, the target was a vacuum — revealing how energy alone, under the right conditions, can manipulate the quantum fabric of space.
Lead author Zixin Zhang, a doctoral student at Oxford, explained, “Our code gives us a 3D, time-resolved window into quantum vacuum dynamics. We captured not only the signature of the effect but detailed insights into how it evolves in time and space.”
This comes as new ultra-powerful laser facilities are coming online, including the UK’s Vulcan 20-20, Europe’s ELI, China’s SHINE and SEL, and the U.S.-based OPAL dual-beam facility. With these tools, the first experimental verification of photon-photon scattering in vacuum may be imminent — and Oxford’s simulations offer the roadmap.
The work also opens the door to searches for hypothetical particles like axions or millicharged particles, potential dark matter candidates that could subtly alter how vacuum behaves under extreme conditions. With quantum physics as their guide, scientists are beginning to engineer experiments at the very edge of known reality.
Professor Luis Silva, co-author from the University of Lisbon and visiting professor at Oxford, emphasized the bigger picture: “We’re at the start of a new era in high-intensity laser physics. This is where precision modeling, experimental power, and fundamental theory converge.”
Next stop: creating light from nothing — in real life.
Source: University of Oxford
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