First Search for Ultralight Dark Matter Using a Magnetically Levitated Particle

Abstract

We perform the first search for ultralight dark matter using a magnetically levitated particle. A sub-millimeter permanent magnet is levitated in a superconducting trap with a measured force sensitivity of $0.2\,\mathrm{fN/\sqrt{Hz}}$. We find no evidence of a signal and derive limits on dark matter coupled to the difference between baryon and lepton number, $B - L$, in the mass range $(1.10360 \text{ - } 1.10485) \times 10^{-13}\,\mathrm{eV} / c^2$. Our most stringent limit on the coupling strength is $g_{B - L} \lesssim 2.98 \times 10^{-21}$. We propose the POLONAISE (Probing Oscillations using Levitated Objects for Novel Accelerometry in Searches of Exotic physics) experiment, featuring short-, medium-, and long-term upgrades that will give us leading sensitivity in a wide mass range and demonstrating the promise of this novel quantum sensing technology in the hunt for dark matter.