On the Euler-Heisenberg action and the light scattering by light

This work has as objective to present a review, with pedagogical and scientific divulgation purposes, about the developments on the subject of the light by light scattering and its relation with the Euler-Heisenberg effective action. We present initially a brief historical overview followed by discussion over the Euler-Heisenberg action in several contexts, but specially in two, Fock-Schwinger proper-time method and Lorentz violation symmetry. Finally we discuss the recent results obtained by the ATLAS collaboration of the LHC which point to an evidence of the light by light scattering.

Keywords:
Light by light scattering; Euler-Heisenberg action; quantum eletrocynamics