Seminar

Optomechanical Dark Matter Detection

by Dalziel J. Wilson (University of Arizona)

Thursday, 17 February 2022 from to (Japan)
at Online
Description
Recently it has been proposed to search for dark matter using mechanical sensors, exploiting the fact that all dark matter candidates couple to the size or position of atoms. While focus has been directed towards analyzing signal from gravitational wave detectors and equivalence principle tests, a unique opportunity has emerged to develop compact detectors based on cavity optomechanical systems, which have recently achieved force measurements at the quantum limit.  I'll discuss this concept from an experimentalist's perspective, highlighting a proposal to search for vector dark matter with optomechanical accelerometers.  In this context, our lab is developing a new generation of ultra-sensitive accelerometers based on centimeter-scale silicon nitride membranes.
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