Atomic Quantum Sensors for High-Frequency Gravitational Wave Searches

Abstract

High-frequency gravitational waves represent an unexplored frontier of gravitational physics. While pulsar timing arrays reach nHz frequencies and ground-based interferometers probe the audio band, the regime above the MHz scale remains essentially untested. We propose a hybrid detection framework in which gravitons convert to photons via the Gertsenshtein effect in strong magnetic fields; the resulting electromagnetic signal is resonantly enhanced in a cavity and read out by atomic quantum sensors. Our approach combines multiple channels, including long-coherence Raman interferometry in alkali atoms, microwave Rydberg transitions, photoionization-based detection, and inner-shell electronic resonances. We derive the graviton-photon conversion probability, compute the induced photon flux, and estimate the shot-noise-limited spectral strain noise density. Depending on configuration, the projected shot-noise-limited sensitivity ranges from $\sqrt{S_{h, {\rm min}}} \sim 10^{-22}{\rm\,Hz^{-1/2}}$ in conservative microwave implementations to $\sqrt{S_{h, {\rm min}}} \sim 10^{-37}{\rm\,Hz^{-1/2}}$ in aggressive optical Raman schemes, potentially surpassing the cosmological bound from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis for stochastic backgrounds, while coherent bursts remain unconstrained and detectable. Such reach allows to test scenarios involving primordial black holes, topological defects, violent phase transitions, and (p)reheating, motivating advances in high-$Q$ cavities, strong-field magnets, and quantum-limited atomic sensors, with broad impact across quantum metrology and fundamental physics.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Schematic of the detection concept. A HFGW traversing a strong static magnetic field is converted into photons via the Gertsenshtein effect. The signal is resonantly enhanced in a high-$Q$ cavity and subsequently coupled to atomic quantum sensors: either directly through microwave transitions in Rydberg atoms, or indirectly via Raman processes requiring an auxiliary laser. The effective atomic response provides a measure of the GW spectral density.
• Figure 2: Shot-noise-limited strain spectral density $\sqrt{S_{h,{\rm min}}}$ for graviton--photon conversion in atomic systems. Solid curves show microwave Rydberg (blue) and optical/NIR Raman schemes (green); shaded bands span conservative, optimistic, and aggressive assumptions. Projected reaches of BAW Goryachev:2014yra, FLASH Alesini:2019nzqAlesini:2023qed, ADMX ADMX:2018ghoADMX:2019uokADMX:2021nhdChakrabarty:2023rha, ALPHA Lawson:2019brdALPHA:2022rxj, and OSQAR-II OSQAR:2007oyvBallou:2014myz are shown for comparison.