QED Energy-Momentum Trace as a Force in Astrophysics

Abstract

We study the properties of the trace $\text{Tmm}$ of the QED energy-momentum tensor in the presence of quasi-constant external electromagnetic fields. We exhibit the origin of $\text{Tmm}$ in the quantum nonlinearity of the electromagnetic theory. We obtain the quantum vacuum fluctuation-induced interaction of a particle with the field of a strongly magnetized compact stellar object.

Comments: 4 pages, 2 figures; Added discussion of the force induced by vacuum fluctuations in presence of strong external magnetic field