In a breakthrough announced on June 5, 2025, researchers at the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, have successfully simulated how light interacts with the quantum vacuum, a phenomenon previously confined to the realm of science fiction.
Using advanced computational models, the team recreated a phenomenon predicted by quantum physics, where light appears to generate from darkness. This involved simulating the interaction of intense laser beams with the quantum vacuum, a state thought to be empty but predicted to be filled with virtual pairs of electrons and positrons.
These simulations offer a three-dimensional, real-time view of how intense laser pulses alter the quantum vacuum, potentially leading to the experimental confirmation of photon-photon scattering. This work is timely, as a new generation of ultra-powerful lasers is coming online, promising to probe the quantum vacuum and potentially reveal new physics, including the search for hypothetical particles like axions and millicharged particles, which could be candidates for dark matter.