Speaker
Description
A detection scheme is explored for light dark matter, such as axion dark matter or
dark photon dark matter, using a Paul ion trap system. We first demonstrate that
a qubit, constructed from the ground and first excited states of vibrational modes
of ions in a Paul trap, can serve as an effective sensor for weak electric fields due
to its resonant excitation. As a consequence, a Paul ion trap allows us to search
for weak electric fields induced by light dark matter with masses around the neV
range. Furthermore, we illustrate that an entangled qubit system involving $N$
ions can enhance the excitation rate by a factor of $N^2$. The sensitivities of the
Paul ion trap system to axion-photon coupling and gauge kinetic mixing can reach
previously unexplored parameter space.
