The latest issue of Nature Astronomy includes a paper presenting research by an international team of scientists, including Dr hab. Szymon Pustelny from the Jagiellonian University Institute of Physics. The article discusses the possibility of using networks of quantum sensors as part of what is known as the multi-messenger astronomy.
Correlating traditional measurement techniques used in astronomy, such as radio-astronomy, neutrinos detection, and gravitational waves detection provides a wealth of information about astrophysical processes. They can be used to search for ultralight bosons, which are considered one of the possible constituents of dark matter. Streams of such particles could be generated by cataclysmic astrophysical events, such as black-hole or neutron-star mergers, or supernovae, and then reach the Earth, affecting the readings of the sensors constituting the network. Linking these distortions with signals captured using traditional measurement techniques would allow clear identification of the captured signals.
The article Quantum sensor networks as exotic field telescopes for multi-messenger astronomy is available on the Nature website.
