5–9 Dec 2016
Nordita, Stockholm
Europe/Stockholm timezone

aKWISP: investigating short-range interactions at sub-micron scales. Status of the physics program at CAST

8 Dec 2016, 12:00
30m
FB42 (AlbaNova)

FB42

AlbaNova

Speaker

Prof. Giovanni Cantatore (University and INFN Trieste, CERN)

Description

The sub-micron scale of distances in the field of short range interactions is presently not accessible to experimental investigation, and may hold the key to understanding al least part of the dark matter puzzle. The aKWISP (advanced-KWISP) proposal builds on the results obtained with the KWISP opto-mechanical, membrane-based, force sensor built at INFN Trieste, and now used in CAST to search for the direct matter coupling of solar chameleons in addition to the photon interaction channel. The current CAST physics program further extends its reach to dark matter axions, searching for them with RF cavities. aKWISP introduces the novel “double-membrane” concept, where interaction distances can be as short as 100 nm, much below the ≈10-30 micron distance which is the lower limit encountered by current experimental efforts. aKWISP reaches the ultimate quantum-limited sensitivity by exploiting an array of technologies, and by working at sub-Kelvin membrane temperatures. Thanks to a recent idea, short range intraction studies might further expand the possibilities also for the detection of axions.

Primary author

Prof. Giovanni Cantatore (University and INFN Trieste, CERN)

Presentation materials