NNV section for (astro)particle physics fall meeting

First Search for Ultralight Dark Matter Using a Magnetically Levitated Particle

8 Nov 2024, 15:20

20m

Kontakt der Kontinenten

Parallel Sessions (III)

Speaker

Christopher Tunnell

Description

There has been growing interest in using quantum sensing technologies for novel particle physics measurements. We perform the first search for ultralight dark matter using a magnetically levitated particle at Leiden University. A sub-millimeter permanent magnet is levitated in a superconducting trap with a measured force sensitivity of \SI{0.2}{fN/\sqrt{Hz}}. We find no evidence of a signal and derive limits on dark matter coupled to the difference between baryon and lepton number, $B-L$, in the mass range $(1.10360\text{--}1.10485)\times {10}^{-13}eV/c^2$. Our most stringent limit on the coupling strength is $g_{B-L}\lesssim 2.98\times {10}^{-21}$. We have proposed the POLONAISE (Probing Oscillations using Levitated Objects for Novel Accelerometry in Searches of Exotic physics) experiment, featuring short-, medium-, and long-term upgrades that will give us leading sensitivity in a wide mass range and demonstrating the promise of this novel quantum sensing technology in the hunt for dark matter.