Related papers: A Laboratory Search for Dark Energy
We explore the cosmic evolution of a scalar field with the kinetic term coupled to the Einstein tensor. We find that, in the absence of other matter sources or in the presence of only pressureless matter, the scalar behaves as pressureless…
Ultra-light scalar fields may explain the nature of the dark matter in our universe. If such scalars couple quadratically to particles of the Standard Model the scalar acquires an effective mass which depends on the local matter energy…
The so called `cosmic coincidence' problem seems to suggest a coupling between dark energy and dark matter. A possibility could be given by dark matter particles with masses depending exponentially on the scalar field associated to dark…
The mystery of dark energy suggests that there is new gravitational physics on long length scales. Yet light degrees of freedom in gravity are strictly limited by Solar System observations. We can resolve this apparent contradiction by…
Models where the accelerated expansion of our Universe is caused by a quintessence scalar field are reviewed. In the framework of high energy physics, the physical nature of this field is discussed and its interaction with ordinary matter…
Disformally coupled, light scalar fields arise in many of the theories of dark energy and modified gravity that attempt to explain the accelerated expansion of the universe. They have proved difficult to constrain with precision tests of…
The majority of astronomers and physicists accept the reality of dark energy but also believe it can only be studied indirectly through observation of the motions of galaxies. This paper opens the experimental question of whether it is…
Discoveries in the last few years have revolutionized our knowledge of the universe and our ideas of its ultimate fate. Measurements of the expansion of the universe show that it is not slowing down under normal gravity but accelerating due…
Underground laboratories host two kind of experiments at the frontier of our knowledge in Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology: the direct detection of the Dark Matter of the Universe and the search for the Neutrinoless Double Beta…
Recent years have seen tremendous progress in our understanding of the extreme universe, which in turn points to even deeper questions to be further addressed. History has shown that the symbiosis between direct observations and laboratory…
Many difficulties are encountered when attempting to pinpoint a common origin for several observed astrophysical anomalies, and when assessing their tension with existing exclusion limits. These include systematic uncertainties affecting…
We develop a theory of dark matter based on a previously proposed picture, in which a complex vacuum scalar field makes the universe a superfluid, with the energy density of the superfluid giving rise to dark energy, and variations from…
In this work it is investigated the evolution of a Universe where a scalar field, non-minimally coupled to space-time curvature, plays the role of quintessence and drives the Universe to a present accelerated expansion. A non-relativistic…
The introduction of an interaction for dark energy to the standard cosmology offers a potential solution to the cosmic coincidence problem. We examine the conditions on the dark energy density that must be satisfied for this scenario to be…
As a candidate for dark matter in galaxies, we study an SU(3) triplet of complex scalar fields which are non-minimally coupled to gravity. In the spherically symmetric static spacetime where the flat rotational velocity curves of stars in…
We establish new experiments to search for dark matter based on a model of a light scalar field with a dilaton-like coupling to the electromagnetic field, which is strongly motivated by superstring theory. We estimate the power of the…
A dynamical scalar field represents the simplest generalization of a pure Cosmological Constant as a candidate to explain the recent evidence in favour of the accelerated cosmic expansion. We review the dynamical properties of such a…
The need for purely laboratory-based light pseudoscalar particles searches has been emphasized many times in the literature, since astrophysical bounds on these particles rely on several assumptions to calculate the flux produced in stellar…
Many candidate models for dark energy are based on the existence of a classical scalar field. In the context of Quantum Field Theory (QFT), we briefly discus the condensation of such a field from a light quantum scalar field produced by…
Anomalous production of low-energy photons from the galactic center have fueled speculations on the nature and properties of dark matter particles. In particular, it has been proposed that light scalars may be responsible for the bulk of…