Quantization and simulation of Born-Infeld nonlinear electrodynamics on a lattice

Born-Infeld nonlinear electrodynamics arises naturally as a field theory description of the dynamics of strings and branes. Most analyses of this theory have been limited to studying it as a classical field theory. We quantize this theory on a Euclidean 4-dimensional space-time lattice and determine its properties using Monte Carlo simulations. The electromagnetic field around a static point charge is measured using Lüscher-Weisz methods to overcome the sign problem associated with the introduction of this charge. The D field appears identical to that of Maxwell QED. However, the E field is enhanced by quantum fluctuations, while still showing the short-distance screening observed in the classical theory. In addition, whereas for the classical theory, the screening increases without bound as the nonlinearity increases, the quantum theory approaches a limiting conformal field theory.