313 Detection of dark matter using MICROSCOPE and LISA space missions

Job title:

313 Detection of dark matter using MICROSCOPE and LISA space missions

Company:

Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales

Job description

The main objective of the MICROSCOPE space mission, in operation between 2016 and 2018, was to test the Einstein equivalence principle, searching for a putative violation of general relativity. No violation was found, but the best constraints on such a violation [1] and on alternative theories to GR [2,3] were improved by two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, an initial subset from the MICROSCOPE data has been analysed in our group to search for a possible violation of Lorentz invariance [4], with also no violation found but an improvement of constraints on the Lorentz violating standard model extension (SME).In the recent (2021-2024) Ph.D. thesis of Jordan Gué [5] we have explored different possibilities to search for ultralight (
eV) dark matter (DM) using laboratory and space experiments. It turns out that MICROSCOPE should be sensitive to axion DM in a hitherto unexplored region of mass and coupling strength [6], with a peculiar phenomenology, quite different from the ones considered so far in MICROSCOPE data analyses. One of the aims of the present thesis proposal is to implement such a dark matter search using the full MICROSCOPE data. Additionally we would like to extend our initial Lorentz invariance test [4] to the full MICROSCOPE data set. Both these objectives would yield ground breaking results in fundamental physics if a hint of either dark matter or Lorentz violation was discovered. Otherwise, important constraints on dark matter models and alternative theories will be obtained and published.Another outcome of J. Gué’s Ph.D. thesis [5] was the identification of a possibility to detect dark matter using the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) [7]. LISA is the next flagship mission of ESA and NASA, with the main aim of observing gravitational waves (GW) from astrophysical and fundamental physics sources. Preliminary studies in [5] showed that LISA should be sensitive to local ultralight DM in a number of DM models, without impairing its ability to observe GW. If this turns out to be correct, it would constitute an important new science objective of LISA, and might well lead to a revolution in our understanding of the universe, but from a “source” that was not considered in LISA before. The aim of the current thesis proposal is to further explore this idea, by full simulations and analysis of LISA data and by identifying the most promising methods of using that data.The PhD student will work in the theory group of the SYRTE laboratory. He/she will be able to take advantage of a vibrant research environment at SYRTE on both theoretical and experimental aspects of time, space and gravitation. The work will be mainly on theory (alternative gravitational theories, DM models) and data analysis (statistical methods, numerical implementations). The theory group at SYRTE has extensive experience with space science data analysis (ACES, MICROSCOPE) and is heavily involved in the development of the fundamental data analysis pipelines of LISA. We are looking for a highly motivated student, eager to integrate into an existing team. He/she will study and further develop the theoretical concepts and statistical numerical methods best adapted for the exploration of fundamental physics in regions that only space missions can give access to.References :[1] Touboul, P., et al., MICROSCOPE Mission: Final Results of the Test of the Equivalence Principle, Phys. Rev. Lett., 129, 121102, (2022).[2] Bergé, J., et al., MICROSCOPE Mission: First Constraints on the Violation of the Weak Equivalence Principle by a Light Scalar Dilaton, Phys. Rev. Lett, 120, 141101, (2018).[3] Bergé, J., et al., MICROSCOPE’s constraint on a short-range fifth force, Classical and Quantum Gravity, 39, 204010, (2022).[4] Bars, H. P.-l., et al., New Test of Lorentz Invariance Using the MICROSCOPE Space Mission, Phys. Rev. Lett., 123, 231102, (2019).[5] Gue, J., Exploration of new experimental strategies for the detection of ultralight dark matter : laboratory searches on ground and in space, Ph.D. Observatoire de Paris – PSL, (2024). ;[6] J. Gué, A. Hees, P. Wolf, Violation of the equivalence principle induced by oscillating rest mass and transition frequency, and its detection in atom interferometers, Phys. Rev. D 110, 035005, (2024).[7]For more Information about the topics and the co-financial partner (found by the lab !);contact Directeur de thèse –Then, prepare a resume, a recent transcript and a reference letter from your M2 supervisor/ engineering school director and you will be ready to apply online before March 14th, 2025 Midnight Paris time !

Expected salary

Location

Paris

Job date

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 05:07:35 GMT

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