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  • Matters Arising
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Reply to: Highlighting the back-action contribution of matter to quantum sensor network performance in multi-messenger astronomy

Nature Astronomy volume 8, pages 432–433 (2024)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 19 April 2024

The Original Article was published on 02 November 2020

replying to Y. Stadnik Nature Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02245-4 (2024)

Recently, along with a team of collaborators, we proposed that quantum sensor networks could be used for a multi-messenger astronomy in a new exotic physics modality1; that is, a search for signals from high-energy astrophysical events that produce intense bursts of exotic low-mass fields (ELFs) associated with beyond-the-standard-model physics. The Matters Arising by Stadnik2 claims that ‘back-action’ effects (that is, the interaction of ELFs with ordinary matter) “prevent multi-messenger astronomy on human timescales”. We disagree with this claim: this is not a general conclusion, as this statement relies entirely on a specific sign of the ELF–matter interaction. While we do not fundamentally disagree with Stadnik’s point that back-action effects can be important in some cases, it is crucial for this nascent research direction to emphasize that back-action effects do not universally preclude the possibility of ELF observation with quantum sensor networks. Below we present our counter-argument, which in fact demonstrates that there remains a large parameter space for detecting ELFs.

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References

  1. Dailey, C. et al. Quantum sensor networks as exotic field telescopes for multi-messenger astronomy. Nat. Astron. 5, 150–158 (2021).

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  2. Stadnik, Y. V. Highlighting the back-action contribution of matter to quantum sensor network performance in multi-messenger astronomy. Nat. Astron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02245-4 (2024).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by US National Science Foundation grant number PHY-2207546, the Heising-Simons Foundation and NASA grant number 80NSSC23M0104.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Andrei Derevianko

  2. Physics Department, California State University–East Bay, Hayward, CA, USA

    Derek F. Jackson Kimball

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Conner Dailey

Authors
  1. Andrei Derevianko
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  2. Derek F. Jackson Kimball
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  3. Conner Dailey
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Contributions

A.D. drafted the reply. D.F.J.K. and C.D. provided comments on the draft.

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Correspondence to Andrei Derevianko.

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Derevianko, A., Jackson Kimball, D.F. & Dailey, C. Reply to: Highlighting the back-action contribution of matter to quantum sensor network performance in multi-messenger astronomy. Nat Astron 8, 432–433 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02246-3

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