Comment on ”Quantum sensor networks as exotic field telescopes for multi-messenger astronomy”

Kavli Affiliate: Yevgeny V. Stadnik

| First 5 Authors: Yevgeny V. Stadnik, , , ,

| Summary:

In the recent work [Dailey et al., Nature Astronomy 5, 150 (2021)], it was
claimed that networks of quantum sensors can be used as sensitive
multi-messenger probes of astrophysical phenomena that produce intense bursts
of relativistic bosonic waves which interact non-gravitationally with ordinary
matter. The most promising possibility considered in [Ibid.] involved
clock-based searches for quadratic scalar-type interactions, with greatly
diminished reach in the case of magnetometer-based searches for
derivative-pseudoscalar-type interactions and clock-based searches for linear
scalar-type interactions. In this note, we point out that the aforementioned
work overlooked the ”back action” of ordinary matter on scalar waves with
quadratic interactions and that accounting for back-action effects can
drastically affect the detection prospects of clock networks. In particular,
back action can cause strong screening of scalar waves near Earth’s surface and
by the apparatus itself, rendering clock experiments insensitive to
extraterrestrial sources of relativistic scalar waves. Additionally,
back-action effects can retard the propagation of scalar waves through the
interstellar and intergalactic media, significantly delaying the arrival of
scalar waves at Earth compared to their gravitational-wave counterparts and
thereby preventing multi-messenger astronomy on human timescales.

| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Yevgeny V. Stadnik”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=10

Read More

Leave a Reply