Related papers: Exploring the possibility of detecting dark energy…

This paper describes the concept and the beginning of an experimental investigation of whether it is possible to directly detect dark energy density on earth using atom interferometry. The concept is to null out the gravitational force…

We review the tantalising prospect that the first evidence for the dark energy driving the observed acceleration of the Universe on giga-parsec scales may be found through metre scale laboratory based atom interferometry experiments. To do…

The majority of astronomers and physicists accept the reality of dark energy and also believe that it can only be studied indirectly through observation of the motions of stars and galaxies. In this paper I open the experimental question of…

We describe the theory and first experimental work on our concept for searching on earth for the presence of dark content of the vacuum (DCV) using atom interferometry. Specifically, we have in mind any DCV that has not yet been detected on…

Theories of dark energy require a screening mechanism to explain why the associated scalar fields do not mediate observable long range fifth forces. The archetype of this is the chameleon field. Here we show that individual atoms are too…

The accelerated expansion of the universe motivates a wide class of scalar field theories that modify gravity on large scales. In regions where the weak field limit of General Relativity has been confirmed by experiment, such theories need…

If dark energy --- which drives the accelerated expansion of the universe --- consists of a light scalar field, it might be detectable as a "fifth force" between normal-matter objects, in potential conflict with precision tests of gravity.…

The DESIRE project aims to test chameleon field theories as potential candidates for dark energy. The chameleon field is a light scalar field that is subject to screening mechanisms in dense environments making them hardly detectable. The…

Atomic interferometry can be used to probe dark energy models coupled to matter. We consider the constraints coming from recent experimental results on models generalising the inverse power law chameleons such as $f(R)$ gravity in the large…

We discuss the use of atom interferometry as a tool to search for Dark Matter (DM) composed of ultra-light scalar fields. Previous work on ultra-light DM detection using accelerometers has considered the possibility of equivalence principle…

Direct detection experiments for dark matter are increasingly ruling out large parameter spaces. However, light dark matter models with particle masses $<$ GeV are still largely unconstrained. Here we examine a proposal to use atom…

Despite being the dominant force of nature on large scales, gravity remains relatively elusive to experimental measurement. Many questions remain, such as its behavior at small scales or its role in phenomena ascribed to dark matter and…

Dark energy and dark matter are only indirectly measured via their gravitational effects. It is possible that there is an exchange of energy within the dark sector, and this offers an interesting alternative approach to the coincidence…

Astronomers carry out observations to explore the diverse processes and objects which populate our Universe. High-energy physicists carry out experiments to approach the Fundamental Theory underlying space, time and matter. Dark Energy is a…

The nature of Dark Energy is still very much a mystery, and the combination of a variety of experimental tests, sensitive to different potential Dark Energy properties, will help elucidate its origins. This white paper briefly surveys the…

Atom interferometers have been developed in the last three decades as new powerful tools to investigate gravity. They were used for measuring the gravity acceleration, the gravity gradient, and the gravity-field curvature, for the…

One of the great endeavors of the past decade has been the evaluation of different observational techniques for measuring dark energy properties and of theoretical techniques for constraining models of cosmic acceleration given cosmological…

The majority of the matter in the universe is still unidentified and under investigation by both direct and indirect means. Many experiments searching for the recoil of dark-matter particles off target nuclei in underground laboratories…

In this paper we review a part of the approaches that have been considered to explain the extraordinary discovery of the late time acceleration of the Universe. We discuss the arguments that have led physicists and astronomers to accept…

Illuminating the nature of dark energy is one of the most important challenges in cosmology today. In this review I discuss several promising observational approaches to understanding dark energy, in the context of the recommendations by…