- Open Access
Directional Searching for Light Dark Matter with Quantum Sensors
Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 241802 – Published 9 December, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cwx5-2n1y
Abstract
The presence of dark matter (DM) stands as one of the most compelling indications of new physics in particle physics. Typically, the detection of wavelike DM involves quantum sensors, such as qubits or cavities. The phase of the sensors is usually discarded as the value of the phase itself is not physically meaningful. However, the difference of the phase between the sensors contains the information of the velocity and direction of the DM wind. We propose a measurement protocol to extract this information from the sensors using quantum states. Our method does not require specific experimental setups and can be applied to any type of DM detector as long as the data from the detectors can be taken quantum mechanically. We also show that our method does not spoil the sensitivity of the DM detectors and is superior to the classical method based on the correlations of the DM signals between the detectors.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (61)
- N. Aghanim et al. (Planck Collaboration), Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters, Astron. Astrophys. 641, A6 (2020); 652, C4(E) (2021).
- P. Arias, D. Cadamuro, M. Goodsell, J. Jaeckel, J. Redondo, and A. Ringwald, WISPy cold dark matter, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 06 (2012) 013.
- D. N. Spergel, The motion of the earth and the detection of Wimps, Phys. Rev. D 37, 1353 (1988).
- J. D. Lewin and P. F. Smith, Review of mathematics, numerical factors, and corrections for dark matter experiments based on elastic nuclear recoil, Astropart. Phys. 6, 87 (1996).
- B. Morgan (DRIFT and UK Dark Matter Collaborations), DRIFT: A directionally sensitive dark matter detector, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 513, 226 (2003).
- B. Morgan, A. M. Green, and N. J. C. Spooner, Directional statistics for WIMP direct detection, Phys. Rev. D 71, 103507 (2005).
- B. Morgan and A. M. Green, Directional statistics for WIMP direct detection. 2. 2D read-out, Phys. Rev. D 72, 123501 (2005).
- A. M. Green and B. Morgan, Optimizing WIMP directional detectors, Astropart. Phys. 27, 142 (2007).
- J. Silk et al., Particle Dark Matter: Observations, Models and Searches, edited by G. Bertone (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 2010).
- K. Miuchi, Challenges for the directional dark matter direct detection, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 2024, 473 (2024).
- A. Garcon et al., The cosmic axion spin precession experiment (CASPEr): A dark-matter search with nuclear magnetic resonance, Quantum Sci. Technol. 3, 014008 (2017).
- S. Chigusa, M. Hazumi, E. D. Herbschleb, N. Mizuochi, and K. Nakayama, Light dark matter search with nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamonds, J. High Energy Phys. 03 (2025) 083.
- S. Chigusa, T. Moroi, K. Nakayama, and T. Sichanugrist, Dark matter detection using nuclear magnetization in magnet with hyperfine interaction, Phys. Rev. D 108, 095007 (2023).
- I. G. Irastorza and J. A. Garcia, Direct detection of dark matter axions with directional sensitivity, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 10 (2012) 022.
- S. Knirck, A. J. Millar, C. A. J. O’Hare, J. Redondo, and F. D. Steffen, Directional axion detection, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 11 (2018) 051.
- A. Derevianko, Detecting dark-matter waves with a network of precision-measurement tools, Phys. Rev. A 97, 042506 (2018).
- C. H. Bennett, G. Brassard, C. Crepeau, R. Jozsa, A. Peres, and W. K. Wootters, Teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1895 (1993).
- C. H. Bennett and G. Brassard, Quantum cryptography: Public key distribution and coin tossing, Theor. Comput. Sci. 560, 7 (2014).
- D. Boschi, S. Branca, F. De Martini, L. Hardy, and S. Popescu, Experimental realization of teleporting an unknown pure quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1121 (1998).
- C. Nölleke, A. Neuzner, A. Reiserer, C. Hahn, G. Rempe, and S. Ritter, Efficient teleportation between remote single-atom quantum memories, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 140403 (2013).
- D. Lago-Rivera, J. V. Rakonjac, S. Grandi, and H. de Riedmatten, Long distance multiplexed quantum teleportation from a telecom photon to a solid-state qubit, Nat. Commun. 14, 1889 (2023).
- J. Qiu et al., Deterministic quantum state and gate teleportation between distant superconducting chips, Sci. Bull. 70, 351 (2025).
- W. Pfaff, B. J. Hensen, H. Bernien, S. B. van Dam, M. S. Blok, T. H. Taminiau, M. J. Tiggelman, R. N. Schouten, M. Markham, D. J. Twitchen et al., Unconditional quantum teleportation between distant solid-state quantum bits, Science 345, 532 (2014).
- S. Hermans, M. Pompili, H. Beukers, S. Baier, J. Borregaard, and R. Hanson, Qubit teleportation between non-neighbouring nodes in a quantum network, Nature (London) 605, 663 (2022).
- V. Krutyanskiy, M. Meraner, J. Schupp, V. Krcmarsky, H. Hainzer, and B. P. Lanyon, Light-matter entanglement over 50 km of optical fibre, npj Quantum Inf. 5, 72 (2019).
- E. T. Campbell and S. C. Benjamin, Measurement-based entanglement under conditions of extreme photon loss, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 130502 (2008).
- N. Kalb, A. A. Reiserer, P. C. Humphreys, J. J. Bakermans, S. J. Kamerling, N. H. Nickerson, S. C. Benjamin, D. J. Twitchen, M. Markham, and R. Hanson, Entanglement distillation between solid-state quantum network nodes, Science 356, 928 (2017).
- F. Rozpedek, R. Yehia, K. Goodenough, M. Ruf, P. C. Humphreys, R. Hanson, S. Wehner, and D. Elkouss, Near-term quantum-repeater experiments with nitrogen-vacancy centers: Overcoming the limitations of direct transmission, Phys. Rev. A 99, 052330 (2019).
- C. L. Degen, F. Reinhard, and P. Cappellaro, Quantum sensing, Rev. Mod. Phys. 89, 035002 (2017).
- S. Chen, H. Fukuda, T. Inada, T. Moroi, T. Nitta, and T. Sichanugrist, Detecting hidden photon dark matter using the direct excitation of transmon qubits, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 211001 (2023).
- S. Chen, H. Fukuda, T. Inada, T. Moroi, T. Nitta, and T. Sichanugrist, Search for QCD axion dark matter with transmon qubits and quantum circuit, Phys. Rev. D 110, 115021 (2024).
- A. Ito, R. Kitano, W. Nakano, and R. Takai, Quantum entanglement of ions for light dark matter detection, J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2024) 124.
- P. Sikivie, Experimental tests of the “invisible” axion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 1415 (1983).
- T. Braine et al. (ADMX Collaboration), Extended search for the invisible axion with the axion dark matter experiment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 101303 (2020).
- J. W. Foster, N. L. Rodd, and B. R. Safdi, Revealing the dark matter halo with axion direct detection, Phys. Rev. D 97, 123006 (2018).
- D. Y. Cheong, N. L. Rodd, and L.-T. Wang, Quantum description of wave dark matter, Phys. Rev. D 111, 015028 (2025).
- P. Sikivie, Experimental tests of the invisible axion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 1415 (1983); 52, 695(E) (1984).
- D. Baxter et al., Recommended conventions for reporting results from direct dark matter searches, Eur. Phys. J. C 81, 907 (2021).
- T. Sugiyama, Precision-guaranteed quantum metrology, Phys. Rev. A 91, 042126 (2015).
- H. Fukuda, Y. Matsuzaki, and T. Sichanugrist, Dataset for “Directional search for light dark matter with quantum sensors”, Zenodo (2025), version 1.0, https://zenodo.org/records/17411416.
- M. G. A. Paris, Quantum estimation for quantum technology, Int. J. Quantum. Inform. 07, 125 (2009).
- P. Komar, E. M. Kessler, M. Bishof, L. Jiang, A. S. Sørensen, J. Ye, and M. D. Lukin, A quantum network of clocks, Nat. Phys. 10, 582 (2014).
- Z. Eldredge, M. Foss-Feig, J. A. Gross, S. L. Rolston, and A. V. Gorshkov, Optimal and secure measurement protocols for quantum sensor networks, Phys. Rev. A 97, 042337 (2018).
- T. J. Proctor, P. A. Knott, and J. A. Dunningham, Multiparameter estimation in networked quantum sensors, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 080501 (2018).
- W. Ge, K. Jacobs, Z. Eldredge, A. V. Gorshkov, and M. Foss-Feig, Distributed quantum metrology with linear networks and separable inputs, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 043604 (2018).
- H. Kasai, Y. Takeuchi, H. Hakoshima, Y. Matsuzaki, and Y. Tokura, Anonymous quantum sensing, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 91, 074005 (2022).
- H. Kasai, Y. Takeuchi, Y. Matsuzaki, and Y. Tokura, Direct moment estimation of intensity distribution of magnetic fields with quantum sensing network, New J. Phys. 26, 123013 (2024).
- D. Coppersmith, An approximate Fourier transform useful in quantum factoring, arXiv:quant-ph/0201067.
- R. R. Allen, F. Machado, I. L. Chuang, H.-Y. Huang, and S. Choi, Quantum computing enhanced sensing, arXiv:2501.07625.
- D. M. Greenberger, M. A. Horne, and A. Zeilinger, Going beyond Bell’s theorem, in Bell’s Theorem, Quantum Theory and Conceptions of the Universe, edited by M. Kafatos (Springer, Dordrecht, 1989), pp. 69–72.
- V. Giovannetti, S. Lloyd, and L. Maccone, Advances in quantum metrology, Nat. Photonics 5, 222 (2011).
- Y. Matsuzaki, S. C. Benjamin, and J. Fitzsimons, Magnetic field sensing beyond the standard quantum limit under the effect of decoherence, Phys. Rev. A 84, 012103 (2011).
- A. W. Chin, S. F. Huelga, and M. B. Plenio, Quantum metrology in non-Markovian environments, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 233601 (2012).
- P. Sekatski, S. Wölk, and W. Dür, Optimal distributed sensing in noisy environments, Phys. Rev. Res. 2, 023052 (2020).
- S. Chen, H. Fukuda, T. Inada, T. Moroi, T. Nitta, and T. Sichanugrist, Quantum enhancement in dark matter detection with quantum computation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 021801 (2024).
- https://utelecon.adm.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/research_computing/utokyo_azure/.
- E. Jaynes and F. Cummings, Comparison of quantum and semiclassical radiation theories with application to the beam maser, Proc. IEEE 51, 89 (1963).
- S. H. Autler and C. H. Townes, Stark effect in rapidly varying fields, Phys. Rev. 100, 703 (1955).
- D. I. Schuster, A. Wallraff, A. Blais, L. Frunzio, R.-S. Huang, J. Majer, S. M. Girvin, and R. J. Schoelkopf, AC stark shift and dephasing of a superconducting qubit strongly coupled to a cavity field, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 123602 (2005).
- Y. Y. Gao, M. A. Rol, S. Touzard, and C. Wang, Practical guide for building superconducting quantum devices, PRX Quantum 2, 040202 (2021).
- M. A. Nielsen and I. L. Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantumæ Information (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 2012).