LC Circuits for the Direct Detection of Ultralight Dark Matter Candidates

TL;DR

This paper proposes a modified LC circuit detection method for ultralight scalar dark matter, enhancing sensitivity to scalar-photon couplings by leveraging electric fields used in neutron EDM experiments, surpassing previous methods.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to detect scalar ultralight dark matter using resonant LC circuits, extending existing axion detection techniques to scalar particles with improved sensitivity.

Findings

Proposes a modified LC circuit setup for scalar dark matter detection.

Achieves sensitivity to scalar-photon couplings three orders of magnitude better.

Operates in the 2 kHz to 10 MHz frequency range for specific mass window.

Abstract

Cosmological mechanisms that yield ultralight dark matter are insensitive to the intrinsic parity of a bosonic dark matter candidate, but that same quantity plays a crucial role in a direct detection experiment. The modification of electrodynamics in the presence of ultralight axion-like dark matter is well-known and has been used to realize sensitive probes of such sub-eV mass-scale dark matter, and analogous studies exist for hidden-photon dark matter as well. Here we reframe the modification of electrodynamics for ultralight dark matter of positive intrinsic parity, with a focus on the scalar case. In particular, we show that resonant LC circuit searches for axions can be modified to detect scalar dark matter particles by exploiting the large electric fields developed for use in neutron EDM experiments. Our proposed experimental set-up can improve upon previous sensitive searches for scalar particles from "light shining through a wall" experiments to probe scalar-photon couplings some three orders of magnitude smaller in the $1\times 10^{-11} - \,4\times 10^{-8}$ eV mass ($2\, {\rm kHz} - 10\,{ \rm MHz}$ frequency) range.