Related papers: Constraining symmetron dark energy using atom inte…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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 symmetron, one of the light scalar fields introduced by dark energy theories, is thought to modify the gravitational force when it couples to matter. However, detecting the symmetron field is challenging due to its screening behavior in…
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…
Chameleon and symmetron theories serve as archetypal models for how light scalar fields can couple to matter with gravitational strength or greater, yet evade the stringent constraints from classical tests of gravity on Earth and in the…
We apply the new constraints from atom-interferometry searches for screening mechanisms to the symmetron model, finding that these experiments exclude a previously unexplored region of parameter space. We discuss the possibility of networks…
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…
The symmetron is a scalar field associated with the dark sector whose coupling to matter depends on the ambient matter density. The symmetron is decoupled and screened in regions of high density, thereby satisfying local constraints from…
The symmetron is a typical example of screened modified gravity, wherein the symmetron force is dynamically suppressed in dense environments. This allows it to hide in traditional tests of gravity. However, the past decade has seen great…
The symmetron scalar field is a matter-coupled dark energy candidate which effectively decouples from matter in high-density regions through a symmetry restoration. We consider a previously unexplored regime, in which the vacuum mass $\mu…
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…
The symmetron model is a scalar-tensor theory of gravity with a screening mechanism that suppresses the effect of the symmetron field at high densities characteristic of the solar system and laboratory scales but allows it to act with…
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…
Additional scalar fields from scalar-tensor, modified gravity or higher dimensional theories beyond general relativity may account for dark energy and the accelerating expansion of the Universe. These theories have lead to proposed models…
Despite the overwhelming evidence for the existence of dark energy and dark matter, their underlying fundamental physics remains unknown. This review article explores the tantalizing possibility that the dark sector includes new light…
Refined constraints on chameleon theories are calculated for atom-interferometry experiments, using a numerical approach consisting in solving for a four-region model the static and spherically symmetric Klein-Gordon equation for the…
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…