PM: Enhancing BSM Searches with Cold Atom Sources

虽然粒子物理的标准模型已经取得了显著的成功，但有许多来自粒子对撞机和天体物理测量的证据表明，在标准模型（BSM）之外，还有几乎完全未知的新基础物理。该研究项目将侧重于在实验室环境中使用原子物理学的精确方法来寻找新的BSM粒子和力。一个研究项目将寻找已知最轻的物质粒子（中微子）的重版本，这可能有助于解释目前在标准模型中无法解释的轻中微子质量的起源。如果它们被发现，所谓的“重惰性中微子”可能解释宇宙中“暗物质”的存在。第二个研究项目将使用激光直接探测被困原子的物质波，将它们用作超精密探测器，以寻找各种暗物质和暗能量模型中预测的新力。该技术可用于紧凑、精密的原子加速度传感器，应用范围包括无gps导航、大地测量学和地质研究。与粒子物理实验不同，这些项目都是桌面规模的。他们将为一个由研究生和博士后组成的小团队提供各种量子力学、光学和电学技术的技能培训。重中微子项目将是HUNTER（重看不见的中微子总能量-动量重建）合作项目的一部分，该项目旨在超越目前实验室对30-280 keV/c2质量范围内无菌中微子混合角的限制。HUNTER将提高先前用于检查原子和分子反应的RIMS（反冲离子动量光谱）技术的精度，展示原子技术的改进如何导致对最基本的自然定律的测试。具体来说，研究小组将开发一个系统，使Cs-131核自旋光学极化，从而在电子捕获衰变中寻找BSM不对称，并致力于委托HUNTER设备。原子传感器项目，BOSSY（镱Bloch振荡传感），先前证明了对几十纳米和微秒时间尺度上的原子运动的灵敏度。本研究项目将着重于增加镱原子的蒸发冷却阶段，以增加物质波相干长度和时间。利用量子探测方法（腔QED）来探测量子效应（布洛赫振荡）将为量子传感提供一个丰富的平台。例如，腔QED平台还可以使用压缩技术研究提高灵敏度，并可用于捕获原子干涉测量。最后，在窄互合跃迁上测量独特的神奇波长和调谐波长可以为镱的原子结构计算提供输入。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

While the Standard Model of particle physics has been remarkably successful, there are many lines of evidence, both from particle colliders and from astrophysical measurements, that suggest that there is new fundamental physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) that remains almost completely unknown. This research program will focus on using precision methods of atomic physics to search for new BSM particles and forces in a laboratory environment. One research project will search for heavier versions of the lightest known particles of matter (neutrinos), which may help to explain the origin of the light neutrino masses that are currently unexplained in the Standard Model. If they are found, the so-called "heavy sterile neutrinos" may explain the existence of "dark matter" in the universe. A second research project will use a laser to directly probe the matter waves of trapped atoms, using them as ultra-precise detectors to search for new forces predicted in various models of dark matter and dark energy. This technique could find use in compact, precision atomic-based acceleration sensors with applications including GPS-free navigation, geodesy, and geologic studies. Unlike particle physics experiments, these projects are both tabletop in scale. They will provide skills training in a variety of quantum mechanical, optical, and electrical techniques for a small team of graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. The heavy neutrino project will be part of the HUNTER (Heavy Unseen Neutrino Total Energy-Momentum Reconstruction) collaboration which aims to surpass present laboratory limits on the sterile neutrino mixing angle in the 30–280 keV/c2 mass range. HUNTER will increase the precision of the RIMS (recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy) techniques that have been previously used to examine atomic and molecular reactions, showing how the improvement of atomic techniques can lead to tests of the most fundamental laws of nature. Specifically the research team will develop a system to optically polarize the Cs-131 nuclear spins enabling a search for a BSM asymmetry in electron capture decay, and work to commission the HUNTER apparatus. The atomic sensor project, BOSSY (Bloch OScillation Sensing with Ytterbium), previously demonstrated sensitivity to atomic motion over tens of nanometers and in microsecond time scales. This research project will focus on the addition of an evaporative cooling stage of ytterbium atoms to increase the matter wave coherence length and time. Using a quantum detection method (cavity QED) to detect a quantum effect (Bloch oscillations) will provide a rich playground for quantum sensing. For example, the cavity QED platform also enables investigations into improved sensitivity using squeezing techniques and may be used for trapped atom interferometry. Finally, measurement of unique magic and tune-out wavelengths on a narrow intercombination transition can provide inputs for atomic structure calculations of ytterbium.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.