Constraints on scalar field dark matter from co-located Michelson interferometers – on August 10, 2021 at 7:18 am

Low-mass (sub-eV) scalar field dark matter may induce apparent oscillations
of fundamental constants, resulting in corresponding oscillations of the size
and the index of refraction of solids. Laser interferometers are highly
sensitive to changes in the size and index of refraction of the main
beamsplitter. Using cross-correlated data of the Fermilab Holometer instrument,
which consists of twin co-located 40-m arm length power-recycled
interferometers, we investigate the possible existence of scalar field dark
matter candidates in the mass range between 1.6$cdot$10$^{-12}$ eV and
1.0$cdot$10$^{-7}$ eV. We set new upper limits for the coupling parameters of
scalar field dark matter, improving on limits from previous direct searches by
up to three orders of magnitude.
Read More

Leave a Reply