Stringent requirements for detecting light-induced gravitational effects using interferometry

Intense laser fields have been proposed as a means to generate light-induced gravitational effects, providing a novel approach to investigate gravity and its coupling to electromagnetism in a controlled laboratory setting. In this article, a detection scheme based on interferometry is introduced to assess the feasibility of observing such effects. Initially, the space-time deformation and the resulting induced phase difference are evaluated in homogeneous electric fields. Using the theoretical minimum phase sensitivity bound – a known result in quantum information – and accounting for background signal coming from photon-photon scattering – a fundamental quantum electrodynamics effect related to vacuum properties – a set of stringent requirements for detectability is obtained. Then, a more realistic scenario is considered where gravitational effects are generated by an e-dipole pulse. In all cases considered, it is demonstrated that observing these effects presents significant challenges, even with the capabilities of current and foreseen laser infrastructures.