Searching for dark matter with an optomechanical accelerometer

Abstract

Recently it has been proposed to search for dark matter using mechanical sensors, exploiting the fact that all dark matter candidates couple to the size or position of atoms. While focus has been directed towards analyzing signal from gravitational wave detectors and equivalence principle tests, a unique opportunity has emerged to develop compact detectors based on cavity optomechanical systems, which have recently achieved force measurements at the quantum limit. I'll discuss this concept from a practical perspective, highlighting a proposal to search for vector dark matter (dark photons) with optomechanical accelerometers. In this context, our lab is developing a new generation of ultra-sensitive accelerometers based on centimeter-scale silicon nitride membranes.