Large-Scale Atom Interferometry for Fundamental Physics

TL;DR

Large-scale atom interferometers are promising tools for detecting ultralight dark matter, gravitational waves, and probing fundamental physics processes, filling a sensitivity gap between existing detectors.

Contribution

This paper reviews the capabilities and potential of large-scale atom interferometers for fundamental physics research, highlighting their unique sensitivity to various phenomena.

Findings

Potential to detect ultralight dark matter interactions with electrons and photons.

Sensitivity to mid-frequency gravitational waves between LIGO and LISA.

Ability to probe early Universe physics such as phase transitions and cosmic strings.

Abstract

Atom interferometers measure quantum interference patterns in the wave functions of cold atoms that follow superpositions of different space-time trajectories. These can be sensitive to phase shifts induced by fundamental physics processes such as interactions with ultralight dark matter or the passage of gravitational waves. The capabilities of large-scale atom interferometers are illustrated by their estimated sensitivities to the possible interactions of ultralight dark matter with electrons and photons, and to gravitational waves in the frequency range around 1 Hz, intermediate between the peak sensitivities of the LIGO and LISA experiments. Atom interferometers can probe ultralight scalar couplings with much greater sensitivity than is currently available from probes of the Equivalence Principle. Their sensitivity to mid-frequency gravitational waves may open a window on mergers of masses intermediate between those discovered by the LIGO and Virgo experiments and the supermassive black holes present in the cores of galaxies, as well as fundamental physics processes in the early Universe such as first-order phase transitions and the evolution of networks of cosmic strings.