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CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
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UID:UW-Physics-Event-8168
DTSTART:20230125T170000Z
DTEND:20230125T180000Z
DTSTAMP:20260414T055032Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230124T181550Z
LOCATION:5310 Chamberlin Hall 
SUMMARY:Precision measurements to search for gravitational waves and d
 ark matter\, Atomic Physics Seminar\, Nancy Aggarwal
DESCRIPTION:Precision measurements are the key to unlocking various fu
 ndamental physics mysteries. In my talk\, I will focus on two specific
  precision measurement experiments -  a novel\, optomechanical (OM) sq
 ueezer for third-generation gravitational wave (GW) detectors\, and an
  experiment searching for the QCD axion mediating new forces in the la
 boratory. I will also give a sneak-peak into the future research plans
  for my group.<br>\n<br>\nLIGO and VIRGO detectors deploy squeezed sta
 tes of electromagnetic vacuum to reduce the quantum noise and enable d
 etection of fainter GWs coming from sources further out in the univers
 e. OM squeezers are based on radiation pressure interaction and hence 
 can be used at any wavelength of light - a big advantage over currentl
 y used crystal squeezers that require a special nonlinearity at the de
 sired wavelength. However\, OM squeezing comes with its own problems\,
  e.g. Brownian thermal motion washing away the quantum squeezing. For 
 this reason\, all previous OM squeezing effors have been at high frequ
 encies and cryogenic temperatures. I will describe what it takes to ge
 nerate and observe this quantum effect at room temperature and present
  the first room-temperature optomechanical squeezing results. <br>\n<b
 r>\nThe axion is a novel particle proposed to solve  the strong-CP pro
 blem in QCD\, and is also one of the top candidates for dark matter.  
 ARIADNE\, under construction right now\, will search for spin-dependen
 t forces mediated by the QCD axion in the mass range 10^-6 - 10^-2 eV.
 <br>\nThis is a precision measurement experiment that requires isolati
 ng a force equivalent to a magnetic field of 10^-20 T between golf-bal
 l sized\, moving objects\, placed 50 um away from each other. I will d
 escribe the experiment concept\, engineering challenges associated wit
 h it\, and current experimental progress\, including a new method to i
 solate magnetic dipoles as small as 10^-9 Am^2.<br>\n
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=8168
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