Atomic Interferometry Test of Dark Energy

TL;DR

This paper explores how atomic interferometry can test certain dark energy models, providing new constraints on symmetron parameters that complement existing experimental bounds.

Contribution

It introduces a method to use atomic interferometry to constrain dark energy models like symmetrons, extending the experimental testing range.

Findings

Symmetron models with masses below the dark energy scale can be tested.

Constraints exclude small symmetron self-couplings.

Results complement existing bounds from E"otwash experiments.

Abstract

Atomic interferometry can be used to probe dark energy models coupled to matter. We consider the constraints coming from recent experimental results on models generalising the inverse power law chameleons such as $f(R)$ gravity in the large curvature regime, the environmentally dependent dilaton and symmetrons. Using the tomographic description of these models, we find that only symmetrons with masses smaller than the dark energy scale can be efficiently tested. In this regime, the resulting constraints complement the bounds from the E\"otwash experiment and exclude small values of the symmetron self-coupling.