{"title":"Constraining ultralight dark matter through an accelerated resonant search","authors":"Zitong Xu, Xiaolin Ma, Kai Wei, Yuxuan He, Xing Heng, Xiaofei Huang, Tengyu Ai, Jian Liao, Wei Ji, Jia Liu, Xiao-Ping Wang, Dmitry Budker","doi":"10.1038/s42005-024-01713-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Typical weak signal search experiments rely on resonant effects, where the resonance frequency is scanned over a broad range, resulting in significant time consumption. In this study, we demonstrate an accelerated strategy that surpasses the typical resonance-bandwidth limited scan step without compromising sensitivity. We apply this method to an alkali-noble-gas spin system, achieving an approximately 30-fold increase in scanning step size. Additionally, we obtain an ultrahigh sensitivity of 1.29 fT ⋅ Hz−1/2 at around 5 Hz, corresponding to an energy resolution of approximately 1.8 × 10−23eV ⋅ Hz−1/2, which is among the highest quantum energy resolutions reported. Furthermore, we use this sensor to search for axion-like particles, setting stringent constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) in the 4.5–15.5 Hz Compton-frequency range coupling to neutrons and protons, improving on previous limits by several-fold. This accelerated strategy has potential applications in other resonant search experiments. Weak signal detection, as in the case for the search of Dark Matter, relies on the resonant effect, when many frequencies are scanner in search of the signal, but this is very time consuming. The authors present a magnetometry method that combines high sensitivity and a wider parameter space coverage adopting an artificially enlarged resonance width, increasing the scanning efficiency.","PeriodicalId":10540,"journal":{"name":"Communications Physics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01713-7.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Communications Physics","FirstCategoryId":"101","ListUrlMain":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01713-7","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PHYSICS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Typical weak signal search experiments rely on resonant effects, where the resonance frequency is scanned over a broad range, resulting in significant time consumption. In this study, we demonstrate an accelerated strategy that surpasses the typical resonance-bandwidth limited scan step without compromising sensitivity. We apply this method to an alkali-noble-gas spin system, achieving an approximately 30-fold increase in scanning step size. Additionally, we obtain an ultrahigh sensitivity of 1.29 fT ⋅ Hz−1/2 at around 5 Hz, corresponding to an energy resolution of approximately 1.8 × 10−23eV ⋅ Hz−1/2, which is among the highest quantum energy resolutions reported. Furthermore, we use this sensor to search for axion-like particles, setting stringent constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) in the 4.5–15.5 Hz Compton-frequency range coupling to neutrons and protons, improving on previous limits by several-fold. This accelerated strategy has potential applications in other resonant search experiments. Weak signal detection, as in the case for the search of Dark Matter, relies on the resonant effect, when many frequencies are scanner in search of the signal, but this is very time consuming. The authors present a magnetometry method that combines high sensitivity and a wider parameter space coverage adopting an artificially enlarged resonance width, increasing the scanning efficiency.
期刊介绍:
Communications Physics is an open access journal from Nature Research publishing high-quality research, reviews and commentary in all areas of the physical sciences. Research papers published by the journal represent significant advances bringing new insight to a specialized area of research in physics. We also aim to provide a community forum for issues of importance to all physicists, regardless of sub-discipline.
The scope of the journal covers all areas of experimental, applied, fundamental, and interdisciplinary physical sciences. Primary research published in Communications Physics includes novel experimental results, new techniques or computational methods that may influence the work of others in the sub-discipline. We also consider submissions from adjacent research fields where the central advance of the study is of interest to physicists, for example material sciences, physical chemistry and technologies.