Quantum-enhanced screened dark energy detection

TL;DR

This paper proposes a Bose-Einstein condensate interferometer experiment to significantly improve constraints on screening mechanisms in theories explaining dark energy and the Universe's acceleration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach using quantum interferometry to test and constrain fifth-force models with enhanced sensitivity.

Findings

Proposed experiment could improve constraints on screening models by many orders of magnitude.

Demonstrates the potential of quantum interferometry in fundamental physics tests.

Provides a new method to explore theories of dark energy and modified gravity.

Abstract

We propose an experiment based on a Bose-Einstein condensate interferometer for strongly constraining fifth-force models. Additional scalar fields from modified gravity or higher dimensional theories may account for dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the Universe. These theories have led to proposed screening mechanisms to fit within the tight experimental bounds on fifth-force searches. We show that our proposed experiment would greatly improve the existing constraints on these screening models by many orders of magnitude.