Optomechanical Sensing for Subatomic and Astroparticle Physics

Session

Levitated Sensors

24 Sept 2026, 10:15

Conveners

Levitated Sensors: I - Levitated Optomechanics

• Joseph Formaggio

Levitated Sensors: II

• David Moore (Yale University)

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...