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    Optomechanical Sensing for Subatomic and Astroparticle Physics

    23–25 Sept 2026
    Canada/Eastern timezone

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    Contribution List

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    1. 1. Welcome
      Arthur McDonald, Kyle Leach (Queen's University)
      23/09/2026, 09:00
    2. 2. Workshop logistics and practical information
      Wouter Van De Pontseele (Colorado School of Mines)
      23/09/2026, 09:15
    3. 3. Overview of broad scope and theory
      Zhen Liu
      23/09/2026, 09:30

      Motivation for optomechanical sensing across subatomic and astroparticle physics

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    4. 4. Quantum measurements of particles and of waves for probes of gravity: unconditional observation of quantum back-action on gravitational-wave detectors
      Vivishek Sudhir (MIT)
      23/09/2026, 10:45

      Quantum measurement of the motion of particles originated in the study of gravitational-wave detectors. One part of the talk will motivate why and how further acceleration in our ability to measure motion can shed light on the nature of gravity. I will then describe the recent unconditional observation of quantum back-action on gravitational-wave detectors, realizing one of the long-standing...

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    5. 5. Sensing gravitational waves and dark matter with superfluid helium: tunable acoustic Weber-bar resonators with cavity-electromechanical readout
      John Davis (University of Alberta)
      23/09/2026, 11:25

      Motivated by the seminal experiments of DeLorenzo and Schwab, along with theoretical predictions for coupling of acoustic resonators to dark matter, we have embarked on an effort to build small-scale detectors of gravitational waves and ultra-light dark matter using superfluid helium resonators. The core idea is to build a Weber bar, which resonantly enhances the strain signal from these...

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    6. 6. Search for scalar ultralight dark matter using cryogenic optical cavities: first demonstration with two cryogenic sapphire Fabry–Pérot cavities
      Tejas Deshpande (Northwestern University)
      23/09/2026, 13:00

      One of the biggest challenges in fundamental physics is understanding the microscopic nature of dark matter. Scalar ultralight dark matter (ULDM) is a well-motivated extension to the standard model (SM) of particle physics, hypothesized to couple to SM parameters like the electron mass and the fine-structure constant, thereby inducing coherent oscillations in the size of macroscopic solids at...

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    7. 7. Looking for dark photons with two-photon atomic transitions: coherent parahydrogen ensembles and the CATCHY pathfinder
      Andrew Buchanan (Queen's University)
      23/09/2026, 13:40

      Direct detection experiments for particle dark matter have grown to enormous target masses, yet conventional detectors' sensitivity scales only linearly with volume. Quantum-coherent detection schemes offer an alternative: by exploiting collective effects across a macroscopic ensemble, the signal itself can scale quadratically with size. I present the theoretical framework for one such...

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    8. 8. Heavy Neutrino Experiment Using Levitated Tritiated Nanoparticles
      Samuele Sangiorgio (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
      23/09/2026, 14:00

      (15+5)

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    9. 9. Trapping solid noble gases
      Lucas Darroch (Yale)
      23/09/2026, 14:20

      (15+5)

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    10. 10. Overview of modalities and experiments
      David Moore (Yale University)
      24/09/2026, 09:00

      The experimental landscape of optomechanical sensors for fundamental physics

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    11. 11. Optomechanical sensors for gravity, dark matter, and axions: levitated tests of quantum gravity and high-frequency gravitational-wave searches
      Andrew Geraci
      24/09/2026, 10:15

      Optomechanical sensors have achieved impressive levels of sensitivity, advancing into the quantum-regime, limited by the measurement imprecision associated with photon shot noise or the quantum backaction from radiation pressure. Optically levitated particles exhibit extreme decoupling from the environment, making them excellent sensors of small forces, torques, or accelerations. In this talk,...

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    12. 12. Gravitational-wave response of optically levitated sensors in Fabry–Pérot cavities: relativistic derivation and the input-mirror asymmetry
      Andrew Laeuger (Caltech)
      24/09/2026, 10:55

      Optically levitated sensors inside a Fabry–Pérot cavity have been proposed for high-frequency gravitational-wave detection, but their optimal configuration exhibits a counterintuitive spatial asymmetry. We provide a fully relativistic derivation of the interaction between a gravitational wave and a levitated object in an optical cavity, demonstrating that the GW response is maximized when the...

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    13. 13. A quantum-limited levitated force and recoil sensor: minimum-uncertainty nanoparticle states and sub-zero-point recoil detection
      Massimiliano Rossi (TU Delft)
      24/09/2026, 11:35

      Nanomechanical oscillators are exciting sensing platforms with applications in both fundamental and applied research. One of their distinctive features is their ability to couple to a plethora of forces while operating with quantum-limited performance. An example of such a platform is an optically levitated nanoparticle in vacuum. Recently, we managed to prepare the motion of such a particle...

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    14. 14. Low-noise levitated oscillators and calorimetry with levitated superconductors: chip-based magnetic traps and single nuclear-decay energy measurement
      Thomas Penny (Chalmers)
      24/09/2026, 13:30

      Optical tweezers have been at the forefront of technological advancement in levitated optomechanics and are still the only platform to cool spheres to the ground state of motion. However, they come with a major drawback of providing a back-action force that is difficult to reduce. Magnetic levitation offers an alternative that decouples the trapping from measurement allowing back-action free...

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    15. 15. Magnetomechanics and levitation: laser-free Paul-trapped micromagnets coupled to superconducting circuits for quantum state preparation
      Mathieu Juan (Université de Sherbrooke)
      24/09/2026, 14:10

      Levitodynamics, where a mesoscopic particle is held in vacuum, provides a promising platform to study quantum mechanics in massive resonators. Yet, most approaches rely on the use of laser light to generate the trapping potential or measure/control the resonator, leading to bulk heating and limiting the type of object that can be levitated. Our approach leverages a Paul trap and...

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    16. 16. The Invisible Drummer: membrane optomechanical accelerometer search for ultralight dark photon dark matter, and the transition to phase II
      Dalziel Wilson (Arizona)
      24/09/2026, 15:05

      Advances in cooling and probing of solid-state mechanical oscillators using optical cavities have spurred widespread interest in using cavity optomechanical systems as tabletop dark matter detectors [1]. I'll describe a demonstration experiment in which a cryogenically cooled silicon nitride membrane is used to search for coherently oscillating force fields produced by ultralight dark photon...

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    17. 17. Quantum Invisible Particle Sensor (QuIPS): recoil reconstruction of nuclear decays in a trapped nanosphere for sterile-neutrino searches
      Daniel Kodroff (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)
      25/09/2026, 09:00

      The QuIPS (Quantum Invisible Particle Sensor) experiment is an optomechanical laser trap surrounded by active particle detectors. It is designed to reconstruct the full momenta of weak nuclear decay products by combining the recoil impulse imparted to a trapped nanosphere, read out at the standard quantum limit, with a direct measurement of the emitted beta particle. This enables searches for...

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    18. 18. Thermal-limited motion and optomechanical control of a levitated superfluid drop
      Jack Harris (Yale)
      25/09/2026, 09:40

      Objects that are levitated in vacuum and coupled to an optical cavity have been used as high-performance optomechanical systems in a number of experiments. However, levitated objects are difficult to cool cryogenically and are highly susceptible to external heat loads. Here we show that a levitated drop of superfluid helium can serve as an optomechanical system that maintains sub-Kelvin...

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    19. 19. Working groups:
      Daniel Carney (Berkeley National Lab)
      25/09/2026, 10:35

      Focus: collaborative opportunities, outstanding challenges.

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    20. 20. Breakout Groups
      25/09/2026, 10:50

      Small-group discussions on collaborative efforts and open challenges; each group prepares a short summary and candidate white-paper section:
      1. Dark-matter targets and theory
      2. Gravitational waves and tests of gravity
      3. Nuclear decays, recoils and neutrinos
      4. Readout, quantum control and shared technology

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    21. 21. Report Back
      25/09/2026, 11:50

      Breakout leads report-back and plenary discussion.

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    22. 22. Conference Closing
      Kyle Leach (Queen's University)
      25/09/2026, 12:30

      Closing Remarks and Summary

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