Hannover 2016 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 5: Precision Measurements and Metrology II (with Q)
A 5.7: Talk
Monday, February 29, 2016, 16:00–16:15, a310
Dark energy search using atom interferometry — •Philipp Haslinger1, Matt Jaffe1, Paul Hamilton2, Justin Khoury3, and Holger Müller1 — 1University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA — 2University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA — 3University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
If dark energy, which drives the accelerated expansion of the universe, consists of a light scalar field it might be detectable as a "fifth force" between normal-matter objects. In order to be consistent with cosmological observation and laboratory experiments, some leading theories use a screening mechanism to suppress this interaction. However, atom-interferometry presents a tool to reduce this screening [1] and has allowed us to place tight constraints on a certain class of these theories, the so-called chameleon models [2]. Recent modifications to our cavity-enhanced atom interferometer have improved the sensitivity by a hundredfold and we expect new results soon.
[1] C. Burrage, E. J. Copeland, E. A. Hinds, Probing dark energy with atom interferometry. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 2015, 042 (2015). [2] P. Hamilton, M. Jaffe, P. Haslinger, Q. Simmons, H. Müller, and J. Khoury, Atom-interferometry constraints on dark energy. Science 349, 849 (2015).