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arXiv · 2211.10689

Nonlinear Electrodynamics without Birefringence

Jorge G. Russo·Paul K. Townsend
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Abstract

All solutions of the no-birefringence conditions for nonlinear electrodynamics are found. In addition to the known Born-Infeld and Plebanski cases, we find a ``reverse Born-Infeld'' case, which has a limit to Plebanski, and an ``extreme-Born-Infeld'' case, which arises as a Lagrangian constraint. Only Born-Infeld has a weak-field limit, and only Born-Infeld and extreme-Born Infeld avoid superluminal propagation in constant electromagnetic backgrounds, but all cases have a conformal strong-field limit that coincides with the strong-field limit of Born-Infeld found by Bialynicki-Birula.

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Jorge G. Russo, Paul K. Townsend. 2023-01-11. Nonlinear Electrodynamics without Birefringence. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep01(2023)039

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