Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a novel approach to detecting light dark matter, a component of the universe that has so far evaded direct detection. The team, led by Xuegang Li and including Yuxiang Liu, Jing Shu, Ningqiang Song, Yidong Song, Junhua Wang, Yue-Liang Wu, Tiantian Zhang, and Yu-Feng Zhou, has proposed a new experimental design that could significantly enhance our ability to detect dark matter particles with low mass.
The researchers have designed a two-chip system that aims to reduce signal dissipation, a common challenge in dark matter detection. The key innovation is the use of quantum parity measurement, which allows for highly sensitive detection of single phonons—quanta of vibrational energy. This approach is expected to achieve nearly 100% efficiency in detecting energy depositions as low as 30 meV, with high energy resolution. The team has demonstrated the performance of their detector through comprehensive simulations of phonons and quasiparticles.
The proposed experiment is projected to advance the sensitivity to dark matter scattering cross sections by orders of magnitude, particularly for dark matter particles with masses greater than 0.01 MeV. This improvement applies to both light and heavy mediators. Additionally, the new design is expected to achieve similar advancements in detecting axions and dark photons in the mass range of 0.04 to 0.2 eV.
The practical applications of this research for the energy sector are indirect but significant. A deeper understanding of dark matter could lead to new insights into the fundamental forces and particles that govern the universe, potentially opening up new avenues for energy generation and storage. For instance, if dark matter interactions can be harnessed, they might offer novel energy sources or improve our understanding of nuclear processes, which are already critical in energy production.
The research was published in the journal Physical Review Letters, a prestigious publication in the field of physics. While the immediate applications to the energy industry may not be direct, the advancements in detection technology and fundamental physics could pave the way for future innovations in energy technologies. The team’s work represents a significant step forward in the ongoing quest to unravel the mysteries of dark matter and its potential implications for our understanding of the universe and energy.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.