Electric and magnetic field effect on electromagnetic wave

[Jacques]

Electromagnetic waves have an electric and a magnetic component, and photon are 'electromegnetic particle'

When a photon pass in an electric field, is he modified ?

Same question with a magnetic field ?

I know about the Zeeman effect and the Stark effect but I am wondering if the direction of the photon can be modified ...

Thanks

[granpa]

no.

[Enthalpy]

Not to my knowledge. Not under normal engineering conditions.

 

But an experiment was (is?) made in Italy trying to detect a similar effect, where a magnetic field would rotate the polarization of light. Did this imply the creation-annihilation of a pair of exotic particles on the trip? I don't remember.

 

And I wonder... Imagine for instance a photon with just under 2*511keV passing by a heavy nucleus: it must create a virtual electron-positron pair that lasts for some time, and this pair is influenced by the nucleus, especially by the gradient of the electric field. Would this deviate the re-created photon?

 

Relativistic effects of huge fields? A magnetic or electric field is energy so maybe it deviates light as mass does. One person at Physforum could answer that.

[swansont]

But an experiment was (is?) made in Italy trying to detect a similar effect, where a magnetic field would rotate the polarization of light. Did this imply the creation-annihilation of a pair of exotic particles on the trip? I don't remember.

 

Do you have a link? If you do this in a medium it's Faraday rotation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_effect

[Enthalpy]

Faraday effect wouldn't need an experiment nowadays, at its name implies...

In vacuum of course. But I didn't find again the address quickly.