Speaker: Nick Rodd
Title: Intrinsically Quantum Effects of Axion Dark Matter are Undetectable
Room: 3024
Host: John Terning
Abstract: Is the usual treatment of axion dark matter as a classical field reliable? In this talk I will show that the answer is subtle: the axion field could well be in a quantum state that has no complete classical description, but realistic detectors cannot tell the difference. To show this, I'll outline how to solve a fully quantum model of axion detection using quantum optics techniques. Intrinsically quantum effects are washed out by mode averaging or small amounts of noise, and significantly suppressed by the weakness of the axion coupling. The approach outlined in the talk exemplifies that there should always be a classical analog for axion dark matter effects, extends to other wave (ultralight) dark-matter candidates, and gives a general method to compute the effects of exotic dark-matter states.
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