No Arabic abstract
We propose a new method to search for hypothetical scalar particles that have feeble interactions with Standard-Model particles. In the presence of massive bodies, these interactions produce a non-zero Yukawa-type scalar-field magnitude. Using radio-frequency spectroscopy data of atomic dysprosium, as well as atomic clock spectroscopy data, we constrain the Yukawa-type interactions of a scalar field with the photon, electron, and nucleons for a range of scalar-particle masses corresponding to length scales $ > 10$ cm. In the limit as the scalar-particle mass $m_phi to 0$, our derived limits on the Yukawa-type interaction parameters are: $Lambda_gamma gtrsim 8 times 10^{19}$ GeV, $Lambda_e gtrsim 1.3 times 10^{19}$ GeV, and $Lambda_N gtrsim 6 times 10^{20}$ GeV. Our measurements also constrain combinations of interaction parameters, which cannot otherwise be probed with traditional anomalous-force measurements. We suggest further measurements to improve on the current level of sensitivity.
We report new limits on ultralight scalar dark matter (DM) with dilaton-like couplings to photons that can induce oscillations in the fine-structure constant alpha. Atomic dysprosium exhibits an electronic structure with two nearly degenerate levels whose energy splitting is sensitive to changes in alpha. Spectroscopy data for two isotopes of dysprosium over a two-year span is analyzed for coherent oscillations with angular frequencies below 1 rad/s. No signal consistent with a DM coupling is identified, leading to new constraints on dilaton-like photon couplings over a wide mass range. Under the assumption that the scalar field comprises all of the DM, our limits on the coupling exceed those from equivalence-principle tests by up to 4 orders of magnitude for masses below 3 * 10^-18 eV. Excess oscillatory power, inconsistent with fine-structure variation, is detected in a control channel, and is likely due to a systematic effect. Our atomic spectroscopy limits on DM are the first of their kind, and leave substantial room for improvement with state-of-the-art atomic clocks.
We show that gravitational wave detectors based on a type of atom interferometry are sensitive to ultralight scalar dark matter. Such dark matter can cause temporal oscillations in fundamental constants with a frequency set by the dark matter mass, and amplitude determined by the local dark matter density. The result is a modulation of atomic transition energies. This signal is ideally suited to a type of gravitational wave detector that compares two spatially separated atom interferometers referenced by a common laser. Such a detector can improve on current searches for electron-mass or electric-charge modulus dark matter by up to 10 orders of magnitude in coupling, in a frequency band complementary to that of other proposals. It demonstrates that this class of atomic sensors is qualitatively different from other gravitational wave detectors, including those based on laser interferometry. By using atomic-clock-like interferometers, laser noise is mitigated with only a single baseline. These atomic sensors can thus detect scalar signals in addition to tensor signals.
Among the prominent candidates for dark matter are bosonic fields with small scalar couplings to the Standard-Model particles. Several techniques are employed to search for such couplings and the current best constraints are derived from tests of gravity or atomic probes. In experiments employing atoms, observables would arise from expected dark-matter-induced oscillations in the fundamental constants of nature. These studies are primarily sensitive to underlying particle masses below $10^{-14}$ eV. We present a method to search for fast oscillations of fundamental constants using atomic spectroscopy in cesium vapor. We demonstrate sensitivity to scalar interactions of dark matter associated with a particle mass in the range $8cdot10^{-11}$ to $4cdot 10^{-7}$ eV. In this range our experiment yields constraints on such interactions, which within the framework of an astronomical-size dark matter structure, are comparable with, or better than, those provided by experiments probing deviations from the law of gravity.
We investigate the impact of operators of higher canonical dimension on the lower Higgs mass consistency bound by means of generalized Higgs-Yukawa interactions. Analogously to higher-order operators in the bare Higgs potential in an effective field theory approach, the inclusion of higher-order Yukawa interactions, e.g., $phi^3bar{psi}psi$, leads to a diminishing of the lower Higgs mass bound and thus to a shift of the scale of new physics towards larger scales by a few orders of magnitude without introducing a metastability in the effective Higgs potential. We observe that similar renormalization group mechanisms near the weak-coupling fixed point are at work in both generalizations of the microscopic action. Thus, a combination of higher-dimensional operators with generalized Higgs as well as Yukawa interactions does not lead to an additive shift of the lower mass bound, but relaxes the consistency bounds found recently only slightly. On the method side, we clarify the convergence properties of different projection and expansion schemes for the Yukawa potential used in the functional renormalization group literature so far.
The Large Hadron Collider can do precision physics at a level that is competitive with electroweak precision constraints when probing physics beyond the Standard Model. We present a simple yet general parameterization of the effect of an arbitrary number of lepton-quark contact interactions on any di-lepton observable at hadron colliders. This parameterization can be easily adopted by the experimental collaborations to put bounds on arbitrary combinations of lepton-quark contact interactions. We compute the corresponding bounds from current di-lepton resonance searches at the LHC and find that they are competitive with and often complementary to indirect constraints from electroweak precision data. We combine all current constraints in a global analysis to obtain the most stringent bounds on lepton-quark contact interactions. We also show that the high-energy phase of the LHC has a unique potential in terms of discovery and discrimination power among different types of lepton-quark contact interactions.