In the last decade or so quantum technologies have made tremendous progress, from redefining the second to establishing quantum supremacy. This unequalled ability to control quantum systems leads to a potential to make measurements with unprecedented accuracy. Quantum technologies have already been at play in various fronts such as the observation of gravitational waves and in searches for CP violation by bounding the electric dipole moments of the electron and the neutron.
At the same time, the field of particle physics, given its primary objective to decipher the fundamental laws of nature, is in a critical junction. While observations tell us that new physics exist they cannot be associated with any definite scale. The conventional paradigm, that the Higgs fine-tuning problem is solved via a symmetry principle is, therefore, the leading anchor in the perception that new dynamics at the TeV scale need to be present, within the current reach of colliders. This paradigm is currently under a two-pronged attack: (i) the LHC Run-2 has come to an end, leaving no traces of new physics; (ii) new theories emerged, addressing the fine-tuning problem outside the conventional paradigm. For the first time in the modern history of particle physics there is no preferred energy range for the new physics scale, even if electroweak-naturalness as criterion is included.
The above substantiates the importance of searches at the precision frontier as these can cover many decades of energy scales. In particular quantum sensors were shown to be able to search for light new degrees of freedom, for instance ultra-light dark matter with masses between the sub eV range all the way down to the 10-22eV range describing fuzzy dark matter.
In order to maximize the impact of using quantum technology to probe fundamental interactions it is critical that each community improves its knowledge of the other discipline. We plan to bring in world experts in quantum technologies and particle physics in order to discuss how the recent progress in the precision front of quantum sensors could be used to search for new physics and study fundamental interactions. We plan to invite practitioners of both AMO and particle physics to sit together and learn from each other about the state of the art and to discuss how quantum sensors can be used to search for “old” and “new” types of Beyond the Standard Model physics.
Key scientific questions addressed by the MIAPbP program