New Physics searches with atomic and nuclear clocks

by Elina Fuchs (Leibniz Universität Hannover and DESY)

Tuesday 24 Jun 2025, 16:00 → 17:30 Europe/Berlin

Auditorium (DESY)

The extraordinary precision of atomic clocks at the level of 1:10¹⁸, has opened up a powerful window to search for feebly interacting light new particles. Cancellations of uncertainties make frequency comparisons between different elements and isotopes very sensitive to ultralight Dark Matter and to mediators between the Standard Model and a dark sector. I will discuss the complementarity of these differential observables to other probes of such new physics scenarios.

In the second part of the talk, I will highlight the implications of the recent breakthrough of the first laser excitation of the thorium nucleus after a 20-year-long hunt for the only known nuclear transition in the optical spectrum. This transition exhibits a highly enhanced sensitivity to the interaction between Dark Matter and the strong sector. I will show how the early line shape data already constrains ultralight Dark Matter and outline the discovery potential of a future optical nuclear clock.

 

We invite you to attend the presentation in person at the DESY Auditorium. We will also offer a webcast to this colloquium.

https://desy.zoom.us/j/99616528733

Meeting ID: 996 1652 8733 
Meeting Password: 733220

PAcolloquium-poster_Fuchs_24June2025.pdf