Oxford Physicists Simulate Quantum “Light from Darkness” for the First Time

By University of Oxford October 21, 2025

Collected at: https://scitechdaily.com/oxford-physicists-simulate-quantum-light-from-darkness-for-the-first-time/

Scientists have created the first real-time 3D simulations of how lasers alter the quantum vacuum.

Using cutting-edge computational modeling, scientists from the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the Instituto Superior Técnico at the University of Lisbon, have successfully produced the first real-time, three-dimensional simulations showing how powerful laser beams can modify the “quantum vacuum.”

Once thought to be completely empty, this vacuum is now understood through quantum physics to be filled with fleeting pairs of virtual electrons and positrons.

The team’s simulations vividly capture a strange and long-theorized effect in quantum physics called vacuum four-wave mixing. According to this phenomenon, when three laser pulses are precisely focused, their combined electromagnetic fields can polarize the virtual particles within the vacuum.

This interaction causes photons to scatter off one another like billiard balls, resulting in the creation of a fourth beam of light in what researchers describe as a “light from darkness” process. These simulated events may provide a new way to explore untested areas of physics at extremely high energy levels.

“This is not just an academic curiosity—it is a major step toward experimental confirmation of quantum effects that until now have been mostly theoretical,” said study co-author Professor Peter Norreys, Department of Physics, University of Oxford.

A New Era of Ultra-Intense Lasers

The work arrives just in time as a new generation of ultra-powerful lasers starts to come online. Facilities such as the UK’s Vulcan 20-20, the European ‘Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI)’ project, and China’s Station for Extreme Light (SEL) and SHINE facilities are set to deliver power levels high enough to potentially confirm photon-photon scattering in the lab for the first time. Photon-photon scattering has already been selected as one of three flagship experiments at the University of Rochester’s OPAL dual-beam 25 PW laser facility in the United States.

The simulations were carried out using an advanced version of OSIRIS, a simulation software package that models interactions between laser beams and matter or plasma.

Lead author Zixin (Lily) Zhang, a doctoral student at Oxford’s Department of Physics, said: “Our computer program gives us a time-resolved, 3D window into quantum vacuum interactions that were previously out of reach. By applying our model to a three-beam scattering experiment, we were able to capture the full range of quantum signatures, along with detailed insights into the interaction region and key time scales. Having thoroughly benchmarked the simulation, we can now turn our attention to more complex and exploratory scenarios—including exotic laser beam structures and flying-focus pulses.”

From Theory to Experiment

Crucially, these models provide details that experimentalists depend on to design precise, real-world tests, including realistic laser shapes and pulse timings. The simulations also reveal new insights, including how these interactions evolve in real time and how subtle asymmetries in beam geometry can shift the outcome.

According to the team, the tool will not only assist in planning future high-energy laser experiments but could also help search for signs of hypothetical particles such as axions and millicharged particles—potential candidates for dark matter.

Study co-author Professor Luis Silva (at the Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon and Visiting Professor in Physics at the University of Oxford) added: “A wide range of planned experiments at the most advanced laser facilities will be greatly assisted by our new computational method implemented in OSIRIS. The combination of ultra-intense lasers, state-of-the-art detection, cutting-edge analytical and numerical modeling are the foundations for a new era in laser-matter interactions, which will open new horizons for fundamental physics.”

Reference: “Computational modelling of the semi-classical quantum vacuum in 3D” by Zixin Zhang, Ramy Aboushelbaya, Iustin Ouatu, Elliott Denis, Abigail James, Robin J. L. Timmis, Marko W. Von Der Leyen, Peter A. Norreys, Rui Torres, Thomas Grismayer and Luis O. Silva, 5 June 2025, Communications Physics.
DOI: 10.1038/s42005-025-02128-8