Constraining symmetron dark energy using atom interferometry. (arXiv:1911.00441v1 [astro-ph.CO])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Chiow_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Sheng-wey Chiow</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Yu_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nan Yu</a>
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 in the symmetron theory manifests its influence only to the
thin outer layer of a bulk object, where inside a dense material the symmetry
of the field is restored and no force exists. For pointlike particles such as
atoms, the depth of screening is larger than the size of the particle, such
that the screening mechanism is ineffective and the symmetron force is fully
expressed on the atomic test particles. Extra force measurements using atom
interferometry are thus much more sensitive than bulk mass based measurements,
and indeed have placed the most stringent constraints on the parameters
characterizing symmetron field in certain region. There is however no clear
direct connection between the laboratory measurements and astrophysical
observations, where the constraints are far separated by 10 orders of magnitude
in the parameter space. In this paper, we present a closed-form expression for
the symmetron acceleration of realistic atomic experiments. The expression is
validated through numerical simulations for a terrestrial fifth-force
experiment using atom interferometry. As a result, we show the connection of
the atomic measurement constraints to the astrophysical ones. We also estimate
the attainable symmetron constraints from a previously proposed experiment in
space intended for test of chameleon theory. The atomic constraints on the
symmetron theory will be further improved by orders of magnitude.
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 in the symmetron theory manifests its influence only to the
thin outer layer of a bulk object, where inside a dense material the symmetry
of the field is restored and no force exists. For pointlike particles such as
atoms, the depth of screening is larger than the size of the particle, such
that the screening mechanism is ineffective and the symmetron force is fully
expressed on the atomic test particles. Extra force measurements using atom
interferometry are thus much more sensitive than bulk mass based measurements,
and indeed have placed the most stringent constraints on the parameters
characterizing symmetron field in certain region. There is however no clear
direct connection between the laboratory measurements and astrophysical
observations, where the constraints are far separated by 10 orders of magnitude
in the parameter space. In this paper, we present a closed-form expression for
the symmetron acceleration of realistic atomic experiments. The expression is
validated through numerical simulations for a terrestrial fifth-force
experiment using atom interferometry. As a result, we show the connection of
the atomic measurement constraints to the astrophysical ones. We also estimate
the attainable symmetron constraints from a previously proposed experiment in
space intended for test of chameleon theory. The atomic constraints on the
symmetron theory will be further improved by orders of magnitude.
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