Probing dark matter with polarimetry techniques

In this work, we propose polarimetry experiments to search for low-mass (sub-eV) bosonic field dark matter, including axions and axionlike particles. We show that a polarimetry configuration consisting of a thick birefringent solid inside a Fabry-Pe ' rot cavity is exceptionally sensitive to scalar field dark matter, which may cause oscillatory variations in the solid's thickness and refractive index. In addition, we show that a reconfiguration of this polarimetry experiment, in which two quarter-wave plates are placed inside the Fabry-Pe ' rot cavity instead of a thick birefringent solid, is very sensitive to axionlike particles. We investigate the possibility of using cross-correlation of twin polarimeters to increase the sensitivity of the experiment, which in turn could allow us to explore unexplored parts of the parameter space and potentially detect a signal in either dark matter scenario.

Automated summary

In this work, polarimetry experiments are proposed for the search of low-mass bosonic field dark matter, such as axions and axionlike particles. It is shown that a polarimetry configuration consisting of a thick birefringent solid inside a Fabry-Pe'rot cavity is exceptionally sensitive to scalar field dark matter. Additionally, a reconfiguration using quarter-wave plates instead of a thick birefringent solid is shown to be very sensitive to axionlike particles. The potential of using cross-correlation of twin polarimeters to increase sensitivity and explore unexplored parameter space is investigated.