March 2, 2022

4:00pm-5:15pm EST - ZOOM

Join Zoom Meeting: 
https://pppl.zoom.us/j/361549769?pwd=R0d5d0hFUjZJNnBhRGR0RkszOGM1UT09
Meeting ID: 361 549 769
Passcode: colloquium
(Note: Additional Zoom information can be found on the lab calendar. All participants microphones will be muted. During the talk, please send any questions/comments via private Zoom chat to the colloquium host)

PPPL VIRTUAL COLLOQUIUM, hosted by Ahmed Diallo

Professor David Moore
Yale University, Assistant Professor of Physics

Mechanical Sensors for Dark Matter

The recent development of optomechanical systems has revolutionized the detection of tiny forces and accelerations. As such technologies reach (and surpass) quantum measurement limits, they can enable new searches for weakly coupled phenomena, including dark matter, gravitational waves, ``fifth’’ forces, and sterile neutrinos. As a demonstration of these techniques, I will describe an initial search for dark matter using an optically levitated nanogram mass sensor, which can exceed the sensitivity of even large underground detectors for certain classes of dark matter candidates in a few days of exposure. If a signal were detected, such sensors would also be able to correlate its direction with earth’s motion through the galaxy, allowing definitive confirmation that such a signal arose from dark matter. Finally, I will briefly discuss future applications of such sensors to a variety of precision tests in nuclear and particle physics.