Ultralight scalar and axion dark matter detection with atom interferometers

Abstract

The detection of dark matter is a challenging problem in modern physics. The ultralight scalar and axion dark matter could induce the oscillation of the nuclear charge radii and then oscillate the atomic transition frequency by interacting with standard model particles. We compute the differential phase shift caused by the scalar and axion dark matter in a pair of separated atom interferometers and give the proposed constraints on the scalar dark matter coupling parameters $d_g$ and $d_{\hat{m}}$ as well as the axion dark matter coupling parameter $1/f_a$. Our results are expected to improve the current detection level and complement with other experiments.

5 pages, 3 figures