Atom interferometers as particle detectors

DIPC Seminars

Speaker

Clara Murgui Galvez
CERN

When

2025/02/06
12:00

Place

CFM Auditorium

Host

Francesc Monrabal

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Many candidates for new physics (such as dark matter, axions, and fifth forces), as well as fundamental components of the Standard Model (like relic neutrinos) and cosmology (gravitational waves), remain elusive and beyond the detection range of traditional experiments due to energy depositions falling below experimental thresholds. Atom interferometers are sensors that exploit quantum properties to search for deviations from an empty (controlled) environment. These devices are conventionally designed to leverage quantum interference for detecting phase shifts. In my talk, I will discuss how quantum decoherence can be utilized to infer the scattering of elusive particles in the environment. As thresholdless detectors, atom interferometers are sensitive to the coherent regime, where rates could be Born-enhanced by a factor of a million or more. This approach offers a unique pathway to explore previously inaccessible regions of parameter space.