Intensity interferometry for ultralight bosonic dark matter detection

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel broadband detection method for ultralight bosonic dark matter using intensity interferometry, leveraging stochastic intensity fluctuations and sensor networks to explore new parameter space.

Contribution

It introduces a new detection scheme based on intensity interferometry for ultralight bosonic dark matter, capable of probing high-frequency regimes with existing sensor networks.

Findings

Method is broadband and sensitive to a wide range of frequencies.

Existing sensor networks can explore previously inaccessible parameter space.

The approach mitigates low-frequency noise through sensor cross-correlation.

Abstract

Ultralight bosonic dark matter (UBDM) can be described by a classical wave-like field oscillating near the Compton frequency of the bosons. If a measurement scheme for the direct detection of UBDM interactions is sensitive to a signature quadratic in the field, then there is a near-zero-frequency (dc) component of the signal. Thus, a detector with a given finite bandwidth can be used to search for bosons with Compton frequencies many orders of magnitude larger than its bandwidth. This opens the possibility of a detection scheme analogous to Hanbury Brown and Twiss intensity interferometry. Assuming that the UBDM is virialized in the galactic gravitational potential, the random velocities produce slight deviations from the Compton frequency. These result in stochastic fluctuations of the intensity on a time scale determined by the spread in kinetic energies. In order to mitigate ubiquitous local low-frequency noise, a network of sensors can be used to search for the stochastic intensity fluctuations by measuring cross-correlation between the sensors. This method is inherently broadband, since a large range of Compton frequencies will yield near-zero-frequency components within the sensor bandwidth that can be searched for simultaneously. Measurements with existing sensor networks have sufficient sensitivity to search experimentally unexplored parameter space.