English

A search for chameleon particles using a photon regeneration technique

High Energy Physics - Experiment 2009-02-18 v2 Astrophysics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

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.

Cite

@article{arxiv.0806.2438,
  title  = {A search for chameleon particles using a photon regeneration technique},
  author = {A. S. Chou and W. Wester and A. Baumbaugh and H. R. Gustafson and Y. Irizarry-Valle and P. O. Mazur and J. H. Steffen and R. Tomlin and A. Upadhye and A. Weltman and X. Yang and J. Yoo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0806.2438},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

4 pages, 3 figures, accepted to PRL, minor revisions to introduction and a more quantitative estimate of reflection condition

R2 v1 2026-06-21T10:50:42.823Z