Speaker
Description
Atom interferometers are emerging as powerful probes of fundamental physics, with applications ranging from gravitational-wave detection to searches for ultra-light dark matter. In this talk, I will explore a complementary possibility: using atom interferometers as detectors of sub-GeV dark matter. Their extremely low effective energy threshold allows them to probe scattering processes that can be inaccessible to conventional recoil-based experiments. I will discuss how dark-matter scattering can leave an observable imprint on the macroscopic spatial superposition realized in an atom interferometer, through loss of contrast and phase shifts. Different observables become optimal depending on the spatial resolution and nature of the interaction. I will discuss the sensitivity of current and future atom interferometers to sub-GeV dark matter, the main parametric scalings controlling their reach, and possible directions for extending these ideas to other quantum sensing platforms.