Dark Matter Searches with Levitated Sensors

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2401.17990
• Publication Date: 2024-09-01
• Authors: Eva Kilian; Markus Rademacher; Jonathan M. H. Go...; Julian H. Iacoponi; Fiona Alder; Marko Toroš; Antonio Pontin; Chamkaur Ghag; Sougato Bose; Tania S. Monteiro; P. F. Barker
• Keywords: Quantum Physics; High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex); Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; FOS: Physical sciences; Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det); Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM); High Energy Physics - Experiment

Motivated by the current interest in employing quantum sensors on Earth and in space to conduct searches for new physics, we provide a perspective on the suitability of large-mass levitated optomechanical systems for observing dark matter signatures. We discuss conservative approaches of recoil detection through spectral analysis of coherently scattered light, enhancements of directional effects due to cross-correlation spectral densities, and the possibility of using quantum superpositions of mesoscopic test particles to measure rare events.