Development of Levitated Quantum Optomechanical Sensors for Dark Matter Detection

用于暗物质探测的悬浮量子光机械传感器的开发

• 批准号: ST/W006170/1
• 负责人: Peter Barker
• 金额: $ 51.57万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FW006170%2F1
• 关键词: Development; Levitated; Quantum; Optomechanical; Sensors

There is overwhelming evidence that 85\% of the mass of the universe is made of dark matter. Its effects can be observed on astrophysical and cosmological scales, but yet we do not know what it is. Direct detection is one of the highest priorities in science and its discovery will be of enormous scientific importance, providing perhaps the most important missing piece in our understanding of the universe and of fundamental physics. Astrophysical and cosmological bounds placed on the origin of dark matter can be explained by a very large number of potential candidates that span over 30 orders of magnitude in mass. This complicates experimental efforts to design a specific detector since we do not know which of the many possible interactions to use in its design. As there is no fixed mass or cross section to target in this search, there is now a huge international effort to expand the search and to develop new sensor technologies that can ideally cover large mass ranges with increased sensitivity. An important new direction in this international effort is the use of quantum sensors whose sensitivity is only limited by the laws of quantum mechanics. These are very different technologies to what has been previously used for dark matter searches and they promise to revolutionise discovery. In the research programme, we will utilize one of the newest quantum sensors. These consist of small masses isolated from the environment by levitating them with optical and electric fields in vacuum. These are ultra-cold quantum oscillators, which can be cooled to their ground state, making them exquisitely sensitive to small forces. This importantly includes those due to interactions with dark matter. Remarkably, their mass and thus their coupling to dark matter, can be tuned over nine orders of magnitude, while their frequency of oscillation can be tuned over at least five orders of magnitude.We will develop these sensors as dark matter detectors for at least two types of dark matter in which they appear to be very well suited. This includes extending an initial search for composite dark matter particles by expanding on the mass range by six orders of magnitude and on sensitivity by at least an order of magnitude. We also aim to use these systems to begin the first search for ultralight dark matter using arrays of these sensors and establishing the first limits based on this technology. Lastly, we expect that this work will not only have impact in dark matter physics, but also in other areas of fundamental physics where measurement of weak forces are required.

有压倒性的证据表明，宇宙质量的85%是由暗物质组成的。它的影响可以在天体物理学和宇宙学尺度上观察到，但我们还不知道它是什么。直接探测是科学的最高优先事项之一，它的发现将具有巨大的科学重要性，可能是我们理解宇宙和基础物理学中最重要的缺失部分。天体物理学和宇宙学对暗物质起源的限制可以用大量的潜在候选者来解释，这些候选者的质量超过30个数量级。这使得设计特定检测器的实验工作变得复杂，因为我们不知道在其设计中使用许多可能的相互作用中的哪一个。由于在这一搜索中没有固定的目标质量或横截面，现在国际社会正在努力扩大搜索范围，并开发新的传感器技术，以提高灵敏度，理想地覆盖大质量范围。这一国际努力的一个重要新方向是使用量子传感器，其灵敏度仅受量子力学定律的限制。这些技术与以前用于暗物质搜索的技术非常不同，它们有望彻底改变发现。在研究计划中，我们将使用最新的量子传感器之一。这些由通过在真空中用光和电场悬浮而与环境隔离的小质量组成。这些是超冷量子振荡器，可以冷却到基态，使它们对微小的力非常敏感。这主要包括那些由于与暗物质相互作用而产生的。值得注意的是，它们的质量以及它们与暗物质的耦合可以调节超过9个数量级，而它们的振荡频率可以调节至少5个数量级。我们将开发这些传感器作为至少两种暗物质的探测器，它们似乎非常适合。这包括通过将质量范围扩大六个数量级和将灵敏度扩大至少一个数量级来扩大对复合暗物质粒子的初步搜索。我们还打算利用这些系统开始使用这些传感器阵列对超轻暗物质进行首次搜索，并建立基于这项技术的第一个极限。最后，我们希望这项工作不仅会对暗物质物理学产生影响，而且会对需要测量弱力的基础物理学的其他领域产生影响。

项目成果

Sensing directional noise baths in levitated optomechanics

悬浮光力学中的定向噪声浴传感

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevresearch.6.013129
• 发表时间: 2024
• 期刊: Physical Review Research
• 影响因子: 4.2
• 作者: Gosling J