First Search for Ultraheavy Dark Matter Using a Magnetically Levitated Particle

Abstract

We present the first search for ultraheavy dark matter using a magnetically levitated particle. The POLONAISE experiment uses a milligram-scale ferromagnet levitated in a superconducting trap, admitting a force sensitivity of $0.07\,\mathrm{fN\,Hz^{-1/2}}$ and resolving impulses as small as $1\,\mathrm{TeV}/c$. Treating every candidate impulse as a possible dark matter event, we set optimum-interval upper limits on the neutron coupling $α_n$ for dark matter interacting through a new light mediator. For dark matter masses $10^6\,\mathrm{GeV}/c^2\text{-}10^{15}\,\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$ and mediators lighter than $30\,\mathrm{meV}/c^2$, we exclude couplings as low as $α_n = 3.2\times 10^{-9}$ at $95\%$ confidence level and set leading constraints on the dark matter-neutron cross section for composite dark matter. Our results extend levitated sensing beyond the mass reach of optical levitation by seven orders of magnitude into the ultraheavy dark matter frontier.