NSF Award
2309254
Plentiful observational data on galactic and larger scales cannot be explained based on the observed matter content in the framework of “normal gravity.” The prevailing view is that invisible “dark matter” dominates the matter content of the Universe. This project will explore new ways to study the nature of dark matter, which is one of the most puzzling scientific questions of the 21st century. The overarching goal of the research is to provide a number of dearly needed theoretical results that are necessary to take full advantage of the revolutionary progress in atom-based quantum technologies that are a new frontier in searches for new physics. The tools that will be developed, especially in understanding atomic structure calculations and theoretical concepts related to new physics models and how to benchmark them, will have far-reaching use for the community. The work will be important for applications in quantum information and the development of quantum sensors, studies of fundamental symmetries, determination of nuclear properties from atomic spectroscopy, astrophysics, plasma physics, and others.<br/><br/>The project will spearhead a new generation of atomic precision measurements aimed at searches for physics beyond the Standard Model with a particular focus on dark matter (DM) searches. It was previously assumed that the ratio of the optical atomic clocks is only sensitive to photon-DM coupling via the variation of the fine-structure constant. This project will explore additional sensitivities of optical clocks to the hadronic sector due to the oscillation of the charge radius. Moreover, the clocks are sensitive not only to scalar dark matter but also to highly motivated pseudo-scalar axion and axion-like (APL) particles. Exploiting sensitivities to these hadronic DM couplings requires knowledge of the field shift constants that can be computed with the methods that will be developed in this project. The PI will explore the sensitivities of different clocks, including highly charged ions, to these new effects. The goals of the project are to (1) develop new paradigms for the detection of ultralight dark matter (UDM) with quantum sensors, (2) develop the phenomenology of specific UDM models, and (3) develop methods to significantly increase the precision of the atomic theory needed for the design and interpretation of experiments.<br/><br/>This project is jointly funded by the Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Theory Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
