Chameleon Fragmentation

A scalar field dark energy candidate could couple to ordinary matter and photons, enabling its detection in laboratory experiments. Here we study the quantum properties of the chameleon field, one such dark energy candidate, in an "afterglow" experiment designed to produce, trap, and detect chameleon particles. In particular, we investigate the possible fragmentation of a beam of chameleon particles into multiple particle states due to the highly non-linear interaction terms in the chameleon Lagrangian. Fragmentation could weaken the constraints of an afterglow experiment by reducing the energy of the regenerated photons, but this energy reduction also provides a unique signature which could be detected by a properly-designed experiment. We show that constraints from the CHASE experiment are essentially unaffected by fragmentation for $\phi^4$ and $1/\phi$ potentials, but are weakened for steeper potentials, and we discuss possible future afterglow experiments.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

Dark energy fifth forces in torsion pendulum experiments

The chameleon scalar field is a matter-coupled dark energy candidate whose nonlinear self-interaction partially screens its fifth force at laboratory scales. Nevertheless, small-scale experiments such as the torsion pendulum can provide powerful constraints on chameleon models. Here we develop a simple approximation for computing chameleon fifth forces in torsion pendulum experiments such as Eot-Wash. We show that our approximation agrees well with published constraints on the quartic chameleon, and we use it to extend these constraints to a much wider range of models. Finally, we forecast the constraints which will result from the next-generation Eot-Wash experiment, and show that this experiment will exclude a wide range of quantum-stable models.Comment: 15 pages, 17 figures; matches version accepted by PR

Designing dark energy afterglow experiments

Chameleon fields, which are scalar field dark energy candidates, can evade fifth force constraints by becoming massive in high-density regions. However, this property allows chameleon particles to be trapped inside a vacuum chamber with dense walls. Afterglow experiments constrain photon-coupled chameleon fields by attempting to produce and trap chameleon particles inside such a vacuum chamber, from which they will emit an afterglow as they regenerate photons. Here we discuss several theoretical and systematic effects underlying the design and analysis of the GammeV and CHASE afterglow experiments. We consider chameleon particle interactions with photons, Fermions, and other chameleon particles, as well as with macroscopic magnetic fields and matter. The afterglow signal in each experiment is predicted, and its sensitivity to various properties of the experimental apparatus is studied. Finally, we use CHASE data to exclude a wide range of photon-coupled chameleon dark energy models.Comment: 29 pages, 31 figures, 1 tabl

Quantum Stability of Chameleon Field Theories

Chameleon scalar fields are dark energy candidates which suppress fifth forces in high density regions of the universe by becoming massive. We consider chameleon models as effective field theories and estimate quantum corrections to their potentials. Requiring that quantum corrections be small, so as to allow reliable predictions of fifth forces, leads to an upper bound $m < 0.0073 (\rho / 10 {\rm g\, cm}^{-3})^{1/3}$eV for gravitational strength coupling whereas fifth force experiments place a lower bound of $m>0.0042$\,eV. An improvement of less than a factor of two in the range of fifth force experiments could test all classical chameleon field theories whose quantum corrections are well-controlled and couple to matter with nearly gravitational strength regardless of the specific form of the chameleon potential.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Matches version accepted by PR

On the anomalous afterglow seen in a chameleon afterglow search

We present data from our investigation of the anomalous orange-colored afterglow that was seen in the GammeV Chameleon Afterglow Search (CHASE). These data includes information about the broad band color of the observed glow, the relationship between the glow and the temperature of the apparatus, and other data taken prior to and during the science operations of CHASE. While differing in several details, the generic properties of the afterglow from CHASE are similar to luminescence seen in some vacuum compounds. Contamination from this, or similar, luminescent signatures will likely impact the design of implementation of future experiments involving single photon detectors and high intensity light sources in a cryogenic environment.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR