Matter-Wave Interferometers as Open-System Dark Matter Detectors

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Badurina, Leonardo, Zurek, Kathryn M.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Badurina, Leonardo
Zurek, Kathryn M.
author_facet Badurina, Leonardo
Zurek, Kathryn M.
contents Matter-wave interferometers (MWIs) offer a uniquely quantum route to dark matter (DM) detection: DM can reveal itself through phase and decoherence between spatially separated wavepackets, even when negligible energy deposition or resolvable recoil occurs. We formulate these effects in an open effective field theory for MWIs using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, which highlights a structural asymmetry between the two detection channels. For elastic spin-independent DM scattering, decoherence inherits novel Bose enhancement or Pauli blocking factors, while the phase is at most linear in the DM occupation number. By retaining the DM's coherence time, this framework spans Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics across a wide range of DM masses, and systematically organizes corrections beyond the heavy-probe limit.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2606_00237
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Matter-Wave Interferometers as Open-System Dark Matter Detectors
Badurina, Leonardo
Zurek, Kathryn M.
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Theory
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
Matter-wave interferometers (MWIs) offer a uniquely quantum route to dark matter (DM) detection: DM can reveal itself through phase and decoherence between spatially separated wavepackets, even when negligible energy deposition or resolvable recoil occurs. We formulate these effects in an open effective field theory for MWIs using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, which highlights a structural asymmetry between the two detection channels. For elastic spin-independent DM scattering, decoherence inherits novel Bose enhancement or Pauli blocking factors, while the phase is at most linear in the DM occupation number. By retaining the DM's coherence time, this framework spans Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics across a wide range of DM masses, and systematically organizes corrections beyond the heavy-probe limit.
title Matter-Wave Interferometers as Open-System Dark Matter Detectors
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Theory
Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.00237