Related papers: Chameleon Dark Energy and Atom Interferometry
Light scalar fields coupled to matter are a common consequence of theories of dark energy and attempts to solve the cosmological constant problem. The chameleon screening mechanism is commonly invoked in order to suppress the fifth forces…
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 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…
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…
We use previously obtained experimental results by neutron interferometry to effectively constrain the parameter space of several prominent dark energy models. This investigation encompasses the environment-dependent dilaton field, a…
The search for non-Newtonian forces has been pursued following many different paths. Recently it was suggested that hypothetical chameleon interactions, which might explain the mechanisms behind dark energy, could be detected in a…
Light scalar fields are expected to arise in theories of high energy physics (such as string theory), and find phenomenological motivations in dark energy, dark matter, or neutrino physics. However, the coupling of light scalar fields to…
Toward understanding of dark energy, we propose a novel method to directly produce a chameleon particle and force its decay under controlled gas pressure in a laboratory-based experiment. {\it Chameleon gravity}, characterized by its…
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…
A scalar field is a favorite candidate for the particle responsible for dark energy. However, few theoretical means exist that can simultaneously explain the observed acceleration of the Universe and evade tests of gravity. The chameleon…
A light scalar field framework of dark energy, sometimes referred to as quintessence, introduces a fifth force between normal matter objects. Screening mechanisms, such as the chameleon model, allow the scalar field to be almost massless on…
The chameleon scalar field is a matter-coupled dark energy candidate whose nonlinear self-interaction partially screens its fifth force at laboratory scales. Nevertheless, small-scale experiments such as the torsion pendulum can provide…
Current acceleration of the cosmic expansion leads to coincidence as well as fine-tuning issues in the framework of general relativity. Dynamical scalar fields have been introduced in response of these problems, some of them invoking…
The best laboratory constraints on strongly coupled chameleon fields come not from tests of gravity per se but from precision measurements of the Casimir force. The chameleonic force between two nearby bodies is more akin to a Casimir-like…
Most theories that predict time and/or space variation of fundamental constants also predict violations of the Weak Equivalence Principle. In 2004 Khoury and Weltman proposed the so called chameleon field arguing that it could help avoiding…
We tested a fifth force using cold atom experiments. The accelerated expansion of the universe implies the possibility of the presence of a scalar field throughout the universe driving the acceleration. This field would result in a…
Chameleons are light scalar fields with remarkable properties. Through the interplay of self-interactions and coupling to matter, chameleon particles have a mass that depends on the ambient matter density. The manifestation of the fifth…
Symmetron field is one of the promising candidates of dark energy scalar fields. In all viable candidate field theories, a screening mechanism is implemented to be consistent with existing tests of general relativity. The screening effect…
Chameleon scalar fields can screen their associated fifth forces from detection by changing their mass with the local density. These models are an archetypal example of a screening mechanism, and have become an important target for both…
Chameleon dark energy is a matter-coupled scalar field which hides its fifth forces locally by becoming massive. We estimate torsion pendulum constraints on the residual fifth forces due to models with gravitation-strength couplings.…