Multimessenger Astronomy Beyond the Standard Model: New Window from Quantum Sensors

TL;DR

This paper explores how quantum sensors can detect ultralight bosonic fields produced during astrophysical events, opening new multimessenger astronomy opportunities beyond the Standard Model.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of using quantum sensors to detect ultralight bosonic fields correlated with astrophysical signals, highlighting a novel multimessenger approach.

Findings

Quantum sensors are effective for detecting scalar and pseudoscalar ULB fields.

Multimessenger detection is feasible despite matter screening effects.

Ultralight bosonic fields can be observed in terrestrial and space-based labs.

Abstract

Ultralight bosonic (ULB) fields with mass $m_{\phi} \ll 1$~eV often arise in theories beyond the Standard Model (SM). If such fields exist, violent astrophysical events that result in emission of gravitational wave, photon, or neutrino signals could also produce bursts of high-density relativistic ULB fields. Detection of such ULB fields in terrestrial or space-based laboratories correlated with other signals from transient astrophysical events opens a novel avenue for multimessenger astronomy. We show that quantum sensors are particularly well-suited to observe emitted scalar and pseudoscalar axion-like ULB fields coupled to SM. We demonstrate that multimessenger astronomy with ULB fields is possible even when accounting for matter screening effects.