Quantum science is one of five top priority areas identified by Yale University’s Science Strategy. Yale Wright Laboratory is using quantum science and sensing to advance the frontiers of fundamental physics. Find out more in this PDF or below.
Quantum sensing in the search for axion dark matter at Yale
- Faculty: Keith Baker, Charles Brown, Karsten Heeger, Steve Lamoreaux, Konrad Lehnert, Reina Maruyama
- Sponsors: DOE QuantiSED, Simons Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation, NSF, Swedish National Space Agency, Swedish Research Council
- Experiments: ALPHA, HAYSTAC, RAY
- Science Goal: Search for axion dark matter using quantum and microwave technologies.
- Website: axion-dm.yale.edu
Axion Longitudinal Plasma HAloscope (ALPHA)
ALPHA is looking for a theorized particle called the axion, which is candidate for dark matter that, if detected, would provide important clues to the nature of dark matter and the constitution of the mass content of the universe. ALPHA, which will be located at Wright Lab, will build on the success of HAYSTAC (see below) and search for even higher mass axions by employing a novel axion detector called a plasma haloscope. The ALPHA collaboration was founded in May 2021. Yale joined the collaboration in 2023. Maruyama is the deputy spokesperson of ALPHA.
Haloscope At Yale Sensitive To Axion CDM (HAYSTAC)
HAYSTAC is looking for galactically-bound cold dark matter (CDM) in the form of Axions, which are very low mass particles that are predicted in the context of the standard model of electroweak interactions (quark, gluon, W, Z, Higgs, etc. are all part of this model). If they do indeed exist and form dark matter, they will convert to radiofrequency photons in the presence of a strong magnetic field. The photon energy, hence frequency, is essentially determined by the axion mass, and is expected to be in the 1-20 GHz region. The heart of our experiment is a tunable radiofrequency (microwave) cavity resonator, which serves to build up the axion signal, and a quantum limited amplifier based on the Josephson effect which occurs when Cooper pairs tunnel though an insulating layer separating two superconductors. HAYSTAC is located at Wright Lab and the Yale team is responsible for systems engineering, cryogenics and magnetics. Lamoreaux is the primary PI of HAYSTAC, and Lehnert and Maruyama are co-PIs.
Rydberg Atoms at Yale (RAY)
To extend the mass range accessible by axion dark matter search experiments, the RAY group is is developing a single-photon detector for haloscope experiments, such as HAYSTAC and ALPHA. The detector is based on microwave transitions between highly excited Rydberg states in potassium atoms. Maruyama is PI of RAY.
Remote entanglement to accelerate an axion search
The Lehnert group studies ways to use quantum-enhanced methods to circumvent quantum limits that challenge haloscope experiments searching for physics beyond the standard model. The group is developing techniques for readout of the detectors that allows for amplification of the signal and increases its bandwith.
Tabletop neutrino physics with mechanical quantum sensors
- Faculty: David Moore
- Sponsor: DOE QuantiSED
- Experiments: QuIPS, SIMPLE
- Science Goal: Study interactions involving neutrinos; search for quantum phenomenon, sterile neutrinos, & new forces.
- Website: Moore Lab website
Searching for dark matter with mechanical quantum Sensors
- Faculty: David Moore
- Sponsor: NSF
- Experiments: QuIPS, SIMPLE
- Science Goal: Search for dark matter.
- Website: Moore Lab website
Inertial navigation with quantum Sensors
- Faculty: David Moore
- Sponsors: DARPA, ONR
- Experiments: QuIPS, SIMPLE
- Science Goal: Develop compact accelerometers and velocimeters for inertial navigation using optically trapped arrays of microparticles.
- Website: Moore Lab website
Quantum Invisible Particle Search (QuIPS)
QuIPS is a new experiment being developed at Wright Lab in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) that extends the techniques used by SIMPLE (see below) to even smaller nanoparticles. QuIPS will measure the momentum kick from a single neutrino emitted from a nuclear decay within a nanoparticle, which can be detected by monitoring the nanoparticle’s motion at the “Standard Quantum Limit” (and eventually beyond). QuIPS will enable new searches for otherwise invisible particles emitted in nuclear decays, such as sterile neutrinos.
Search for new Interactions in a Microsphere Precision Levitation Experiment (SIMPLE)
SIMPLE is a setup at Wright Lab to optically levitate micron sized spheres (“microspheres”) in a laser beam in vacuum. In high vacuum, the microspheres can be isolated from their room temperature surroundings and their position can be controlled and measured optically using the transmitted laser light. These techniques allow extremely tiny forces acting on the sphere to be precisely detected, enabling the search for physics beyond the Standard Model and increasing understanding of some of the major unanswered questions in high energy physics.
Gravitational entanglement tests with quantum sensors
- Faculty: David Moore
- Sponsors: Moore Foundation, Sloan Foundation
- Experiment: MAST-QG
- Science Goal: Test whether gravity has a quantum nature by levitating tiny diamonds in a vacuum to see if they become entangled.
- Website: MAST-QG website
MAcroscopic Superpositions Towards witnessing the Quantum nature of Gravity (MAST-QG)
The MAST-QG experiment tests whether gravity has a quantum nature by levitating tiny diamonds in a vacuum to see if they become entangled through their gravitational interaction. The Moore group is using their expertise in precisely trapping nanoparticles in a vacuum to study the electromagnetic interactions between nanodiamonds. The collaboration also includes researchers from University College London, the University of Warwick in England, Northwestern University, and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The lead investigator is Gavin Morley from the University of Warwick.
Testing quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale
- Faculty: Jack Harris
- Sponsors: Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Department of Defense, DOE
- Science Goal: Explore the influence of quantum mechanics and topological effects upon the motion of macroscopic objects.
- Website: Harris Lab website
Levitated Superfluids
Superfluid helium has many unique properties that make it a remarkable material for quantum optomechanics experiments. By magnetically levitating millimeter-scale drops of superfluid in vacuum, we are exploring new ways to exploit these properties and to address outstanding questions in fundamental fluid mechanics.
Quantum Optomechanics
Light that is trapped in a cavity can interact strongly with the motion of a macroscopic object. This interaction provides a powerful means for developing quantum-enhanced sensors, studying quantum effects in massive systems, and searching for physics beyond the standard model. Our group explores these questions in devices whose mass ranges from nanograms to milligrams, and which are constructed from dielectric solids and superfluid helium.
Quantum sensors for neutrinoless double beta decay
- Faculty: Karsten Heeger, Reina Maruyama
- Sponsor: DOE-NP
- Experiments: CUORE/CUPID
- Science Goal: Develop quantum sensors to search for neutrinoless double beta decay, which could answer why we live in a Universe of matter, not antimatter.
- Website: INFN website, Yale website,
The Yale CUORE/CUPID team is developing quantum sensors to search for neutrinoless double beta decay, which could answer why we live in a Universe of matter, not antimatter. Currently, the team is developing light detectors for CUPID using quantum sensors that will significantly increase the discovery sensitivity of the detector.
Quantum sensors in instrumentation for millimeter wave cosmology
- Faculty: Laura Newburgh
- Sponsors: NSF, Simons Foundation
- Experiments: CMB-S4, Simons Observatory
- Science Goal: Probe the Cosmic Microwave Background to learn more about the beginning of the Universe.
- Website: Simons Observatory, CMB-S4
The Newburgh Lab is part of Simons Observatory and CMB-S4, which use sensors that sit on the transition between the superconducting and normal-metal states (‘transition edge sensors’) to sensitively detect photons from the Cosmic Microwave Background. They are read out with superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), using new wide-bandwidth readout crates to many more sensors in a single connection than was possible before. The Newburgh group is focused on software development for these experiments.
Quantum science and computing in high energy physics
- Faculty: Keith Baker
- Sponsors: DOE-HEP, Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Experiment: ATLAS
- Science Goal: Study quantum information science in high energy physics, quantum entanglement, Bell’s inequality, and entanglement entropy.
The Baker group studies quantum information science in high energy physics, quantum entanglement, Bell’s inequality, and entanglement entropy. The group demonstrates applications of machine learning, quantum computing, and quantum algorithms in physics analyses at high energies to better understand certain anomalies in data from high energy particle physics experiments.
Quantum spin magnetometry for ultracold neutron electric dipole moment experiments
- Faculty: Steve Lamoreaux
- Sponsor: NSF
- Experiment: Ultracold Neturon beamline at Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Science Goal: Test for time reversal asymmetry within the neutron, which would be manifested as a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM). The experiment’s goal is to discover or limit EDM.
The project employs ultrasensitive magnetometry, and Lamoreaux is working on the system that measures and stabilizes magnetic field fluctuations.
Theory Connection: Collider experiments and jet substructure
- Faculty: Ian Moult
- Sponsors: DOE HEP, Sloan Foundation
- Science Goal: Develop new techniques in quantum field theory to improve understanding of real world collider experiments, with applications in particle and nuclear physics.
Moult has played a leading role in the development of jet substructure, which takes advantage of subtle patterns in the structure of energy flow in collisions at the LHC to maximize the discovery potential for new physics and better understand the theory of the strong interaction