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

Nature Astronomy volume 8, pages 434–438 (2024)Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 19 April 2024

The Original Article was published on 02 November 2020

arising from C. Dailey et al. Nature Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01242-7 (2021)

In their study, Dailey et al.1 claimed that networks of quantum sensors can be used as sensitive multi-messenger probes of astrophysical phenomena that produce intense bursts of relativistic bosonic waves that interact non-gravitationally with ordinary matter. The most promising possibility considered in ref. 1 involved clock-based searches for quadratic scalar-type interactions, with greatly diminished reach in the case of magnetometer-based searches for derivative-pseudoscalar-type interactions and clock-based searches for linear scalar-type interactions. In this Matters Arising, we show that the aforementioned work overlooked the ‘back action’ of ordinary matter on scalar waves with quadratic interactions, which can greatly affect the detection prospects of clock networks. In particular, back action can cause strong screening of scalar waves near Earth’s surface and by the apparatus itself, potentially rendering clock experiments insensitive to extraterrestrial sources of relativistic scalar waves. Back-action effects can also slow the propagation of scalar waves through the interstellar and intergalactic media, which can in turn substantially delay the arrival of scalar waves at Earth, compared with their gravitational-wave counterparts, and prevent multi-messenger astronomy on timescales comparable to the average human life expectancy. Our findings and conclusions apply to quadratic scalar-type interactions with the particular signs chosen in ref. 1.

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Fig. 1: Regions of parameter space for the quadratic interaction of ϕ with the photon.

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The data that support Fig. 1 and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

I thank J. Eby, S. Shirai and V. Takhistov for discussions, and A. Derevianko and D. Jackson Kimball for feedback on the manuscript. This work was supported by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), MEXT, Japan, by JSPS KAKENHI grant number JP20K14460 and by the Australian Research Council under the Discovery Early Career Researcher award number DE210101593.

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  1. Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan

    Yevgeny V. Stadnik

  2. School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Yevgeny V. Stadnik

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Correspondence to Yevgeny V. Stadnik.

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Stadnik, Y.V. Highlighting the back-action contribution of matter to quantum sensor network performance in multi-messenger astronomy. Nat Astron 8, 434–438 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02245-4

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