[quantum-info] Joint QI-QF seminar on Wed, Dec 4: Jess Riedel

[Gus Gutoski]

Please join us on Wednesday, December 4 at 16:00 in the Time room for a
joint PIQuDos--Quantum Foundations seminar by Jess Riedel.

Title: *Direct Detection of Classically Undetectable Dark Matter through
Quantum Decoherence*
Speaker: *Jess Riedel* (IBM)

Abstract:  Although various pieces of indirect evidence about the nature of
dark matter have been collected, its direct detection has eluded
experimental searches despite extensive effort. If the mass of dark matter
is below 1 MeV, it is essentially imperceptible to conventional detection
methods because negligible energy is transferred to nuclei during
collisions. Here I propose directly detecting dark matter through the
quantum decoherence it causes rather than its classical effects such as
recoil or ionization. I show that quantum spatial superpositions are
sensitive to low-mass dark matter that is inaccessible to classical
techniques. This provides new independent motivation for matter
interferometry with large masses, especially on spaceborne platforms. The
apparent dark matter wind we experience as the Sun travels through the
Milky Way ensures interferometers and related devices are directional
detectors, and so are able to provide unmistakable evidence that
decoherence has galactic origins.

Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2013.
Time: 16:00
Location: Time Room (294)
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