Arrays of Levitated Microspheres for Improved BSM Physics Searches
by
Ben Siegel
→
Europe/London
Description
Levitated microspheres have proven to be extremely sensitive force and momentum detectors, enabling searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. By monitoring the position and charge of such spheres, our lab has already set limits on relic millicharged particles, searched for composite dark matter, and detected nuclear decays through mechanical recoils. We plan to improve the sensitivity of these rare event experiments by scaling to an array of traps. Using a timesharing approach to creating the traps, there is independent control and feedback for each one. So far we have successfully demonstrated the trapping and reorganization of 40 spheres. This setup can increase our cross section for dark matter scattering events and enables searches for equivalence principle violating fifth forces, with the added benefit of improving noise rejection via correlated motion of the array.
