A quantum enhanced search for dark matter axions
A quantum enhanced search for dark matter axions
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DOI：
10.1038/s41586-021-03226-7
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发表时间：
2021-02-11
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Wang, H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Backes, K. M.;Palken, D. A.;Wang, H.
对暗物质的量子增强搜索使用真空压缩来克服量子噪声限制，在激励良好的质量范围内没有发现暗物质轴子的证据。对光的量子态的操纵(1)具有增强对基础物理的搜索的潜力。直到最近，量子压缩技术的成熟才与受量子不确定性限制的基础物理搜索的出现相吻合(2，3)。特别是，量子色动力学轴子为基础物理中两个最突出的问题提供了可能的解决方案：量子色动力学的强电荷宇称问题(4)和暗物质的未知性质(5-7)。在暗物质轴子搜索中，量子不确定性表现为一个基本的噪声源，限制了用于探测的正交观测值的测量。很少有暗物质搜索达到这个极限(3，8)，到目前为止，还没有人超过这个极限。在这里，我们使用真空压缩来绕过量子极限来寻找暗物质。通过在压缩状态下准备一个微波频率的电磁场，并几乎无噪声地只读出压缩的求积(9)，我们在最近的一些理论预测(10，11)所支持的质量范围内将轴子的搜索率提高了一倍。在16.96-17.12微电子伏特和17.14-17.28微电子伏特的轴子静止能量窗口内，我们没有发现暗物质的证据。突破量子极限引发了一个基础物理研究的时代，在这个时代，与接近量子极限的收益递减相比，降噪技术带来了无限的好处。
A quantum enhanced search for dark matter that uses vacuum squeezing to overcome the quantum noise limit finds no evidence of dark matter axions in a well motivated mass range.The manipulation of quantum states of light(1) holds the potential to enhance searches for fundamental physics. Only recently has the maturation of quantum squeezing technology coincided with the emergence of fundamental physics searches that are limited by quantum uncertainty(2,3). In particular, the quantum chromodynamics axion provides a possible solution to two of the greatest outstanding problems in fundamental physics: the strong-CP (charge-parity) problem of quantum chromodynamics(4) and the unknown nature of dark matter(5-7). In dark matter axion searches, quantum uncertainty manifests as a fundamental noise source, limiting the measurement of the quadrature observables used for detection. Few dark matter searches have approached this limit(3,8), and until now none has exceeded it. Here we use vacuum squeezing to circumvent the quantum limit in a search for dark matter. By preparing a microwave-frequency electromagnetic field in a squeezed state and near-noiselessly reading out only the squeezed quadrature(9), we double the search rate for axions over a mass range favoured by some recent theoretical projections(10,11). We find no evidence of dark matter within the axion rest energy windows of 16.96-17.12 and 17.14-17.28 microelectronvolts. Breaking through the quantum limit invites an era of fundamental physics searches in which noise reduction techniques yield unbounded benefit compared with the diminishing returns of approaching the quantum limit.