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Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
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A quantum enhanced search for dark matter axions.
K M Backes1, D A Palken2,3, S Al Kenany4
1Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. kelly.backes@yale.edu.
Nature
|February 11, 2021
Summary
This study used vacuum squeezing to overcome quantum uncertainty limits in dark matter axion searches. No dark matter axions were detected, but the new method doubles search rates for fundamental physics discovery.
Area of Science:
- Quantum physics
- Particle physics
- Astrophysics
Background:
- Quantum squeezing technology is maturing, enabling new fundamental physics searches limited by quantum uncertainty.
- The quantum chromodynamics axion is a candidate for dark matter and a solution to the strong-CP problem.
Purpose of the Study:
- To use vacuum squeezing to circumvent the quantum limit in dark matter axion searches.
- To double the search rate for axions and explore new mass ranges.
Main Methods:
- Prepared a microwave-frequency electromagnetic field in a squeezed state.
- Near-noiselessly read out only the squeezed quadrature for detection.
Main Results:
- No evidence of dark matter found within the axion rest energy windows of 16.96-17.12 and 17.14-17.28 microelectronvolts.
- The search rate for axions was doubled over a favored mass range.
Conclusions:
- Breaking the quantum limit opens a new era for fundamental physics searches using noise reduction techniques.
- This approach offers unbounded benefits compared to merely approaching the quantum limit.
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