Magnetar may offer first evidence of quantum vacuum effect predicted by Heisenberg

Observations of a magnetar — a neutron star with an extraordinarily powerful magnetic field — show signs that its light is being altered as it passes through apparently empty space, consistent with the quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence. Werner Heisenberg predicted this phenomenon nearly 90 years ago, but it has never been directly confirmed. The finding could constitute the first empirical evidence of the effect.

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