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A search for chameleon particles using a photon regeneration technique

A. S. Chou, W. Wester, A. Baumbaugh, H. R. Gustafson, Y. Irizarry-Valle, P. O. Mazur, J. H. Steffen, R. Tomlin, A. Upadhye, A. Weltman, X. Yang, J. Yoo

TL;DR

This work presents the first laboratory search for chameleon dark-energy candidates using a photon-regeneration afterglow approach in a strong magnetic field. Chameleon fields, with environment-dependent mass $m_ ext{eff}$ and photon coupling $eta_ extgamma$, can convert photons to chameleons, which are trapped in a sealed jar and later reconvert to photons detectable as an afterglow. The study derives production and afterglow rates, performs two experimental runs with different polarizations, and derives conservative 3σ constraints in the $(m_ ext{eff}, eta_ extgamma)$ plane for both pseudoscalar and scalar chameleons, marking the first experimental limits on photon–chameleon couplings. This lab-based methodology provides a complementary avenue to astrophysical probes for testing dark-energy models at meV scales, with potential for expanded sensitivity in future setups.

Abstract

We report the first results from the GammeV search for chameleon particles, which may be created via photon-photon interactions within a strong magnetic field. Chameleons are hypothesized scalar fields that could explain the dark energy problem. We implement a novel technique to create and trap the reflective particles within a jar and to detect them later via their afterglow as they slowly convert back into photons. These measurements provide the first experimental constraints on the couplings of chameleons to photons.

A search for chameleon particles using a photon regeneration technique

TL;DR

This work presents the first laboratory search for chameleon dark-energy candidates using a photon-regeneration afterglow approach in a strong magnetic field. Chameleon fields, with environment-dependent mass and photon coupling , can convert photons to chameleons, which are trapped in a sealed jar and later reconvert to photons detectable as an afterglow. The study derives production and afterglow rates, performs two experimental runs with different polarizations, and derives conservative 3σ constraints in the plane for both pseudoscalar and scalar chameleons, marking the first experimental limits on photon–chameleon couplings. This lab-based methodology provides a complementary avenue to astrophysical probes for testing dark-energy models at meV scales, with potential for expanded sensitivity in future setups.

Abstract

We report the first results from the GammeV search for chameleon particles, which may be created via photon-photon interactions within a strong magnetic field. Chameleons are hypothesized scalar fields that could explain the dark energy problem. We implement a novel technique to create and trap the reflective particles within a jar and to detect them later via their afterglow as they slowly convert back into photons. These measurements provide the first experimental constraints on the couplings of chameleons to photons.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 7 sections, 5 equations, 3 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction:
  2. Chameleon phenomenology:
  3. GammeV apparatus:
  4. Expected signal:
  5. Expected signal:
  6. Results:
  7. Acknowledgements:

Figures (3)

  • Figure 1: The GammeV apparatus.
  • Figure 2: Expected afterglow rate for various values of $\beta_\gamma$. The solid curves are for chameleons with masses of $10^{-4}$ eV while the dotted curves are for $5\times 10^{-4}$ eV chameleons. Our observation time window for pseudoscalar chameleons is shown shaded in yellow; the corresponding time window for scalar chameleons is shifted to the right by about $700$ sec.
  • Figure 3: Region excluded by GammeV to $3\sigma$ for pseudoscalar particles (solid blue region) and for scalar particles (region between green lines).