Quantum analysis of Rydberg atom cavity detector for dark matter axion search

Abstract

Quantum calculations are developed on the dynamical system consisting of the cosmic axions, photons and Rydberg atoms which are interacting in the resonant microwave cavity. The time evolution is determined for the number of Rydberg atoms in the upper state which are excited by absorbing the axion-converted and thermal background photons. The calculations are made, in particular, by taking into account the actual experimental situation such as the motion and uniform distribution of the Rydberg atoms in the incident beam and also the spatial variation of the electric field in the cavity. Some essential aspects on the axion-photon-atom interaction in the resonant cavity are clarified by these detailed calculations. Then, by using these results the detection sensitivity of the Rydberg atom cavity detector is estimated properly. This systematic quantum analysis enables us to provide the optimum experimental setup for the dark matter axion search with Rydberg atom cavity detector.