Torsion Balance Experiments Enable Direct Detection of Sub-eV Dark Matter
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
2026-03-31 v2 High Energy Physics - Experiment
Abstract
Light dark matter with sub-eV masses has a high number density in our galaxy, and its scattering cross section with macroscopic objects can be significantly enhanced by coherence effects. Repeated scattering with a target object can induce a measurable acceleration. Torsion balance experiments with geometric asymmetry are, in principle, capable of detecting such signals. Our analysis shows that existing torsion balances designed to test the Equivalence Principle already place the most stringent constraints on DM-nucleon scattering in the eV mass range.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2506.07763,
title = {Torsion Balance Experiments Enable Direct Detection of Sub-eV Dark Matter},
author = {Shigeki Matsumoto and Jie Sheng and Chuan-Yang Xing and Lin Zhu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.07763},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
7 pages, 3 figures, published version in Physical Review Letters