Superradiant Searches for Dark Photons in Two Stage Atomic Transitions

Abstract

We study a new mechanism to discover dark photon fields, by resonantly triggering two photon transitions in cold gas preparations. Using coherently prepared cold parahydrogen, coupling sensitivity for sub-meV mass dark photon fields can be advanced by orders of magnitude, with a modified light-shining-through-wall setup. We calculate the effect of a background dark photon field on the dipole moment and corresponding transition rate of cold parahydrogen pumped into its first vibrational excited state by counter-propagating laser beams. The nonlinear amplification of two photon emission triggered by dark photons in a cold parahydrogen sample is numerically simulated to obtain the expected dark photon coupling sensitivity.

Comments: 43 pages, 11 figures. Added discussions on decoherence effects and the sensitivity corresponding to larger target number density. Matched published version