2025/11/11 by Peisen Zhao, Zhao, Peisen, Behrens, Ole +12
Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2511.08064
openalex publication_date 2025/11/11 · openalex created_date 2025/11/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We report on a laboratory search for ultralight dark photon dark matter using a single-site, two-sensor scalar magnetometer array. The experiment employs two scalar optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) operated in a differential configuration to suppress common-mode noise and enhance sensitivity to spatially coherent dark photon fields. We analyze 10.5 hours of continuous data with a six-channel complex data vector evaluated at the three physical frequencies of the expected dark photon signal triplet. Assuming Gaussian noise, we develop a likelihood framework to set robust, frequency-resolved upper limits on the kinetic-mixing parameter ε, which governs the coupling between Standard Model photons and dark photons. Within the mass range 4×10-15 eV ≤ mA' ≤ 3×10-14 eV, we obtain the most stringent direct laboratory limits to date on ε, complementing existing astrophysical bounds including those inferred from observations of the Leo-T dwarf galaxy.