Chaudhuri leads the Princeton Axion Search (PXS) and is a core contributor to the DMRadio program, using solenoidal lumped-element LC resonators, DC-SQUID and near-quantum-limited (traveling-wave parametric amplifier) readout to search for QCD axion dark matter from roughly neV to ueV masses; his group explicitly frames this as electromagnetic quantum sensing beyond the Standard Quantum Limit. He is actively developing superconducting resonators and RF quantum upconverters that push readout sensitivity toward and below the SQL.
Develops quantum metrology for ultra-weakly-coupled dark sectors and fundamental physics. Directions: (1) axion dark matter detection using entangled probe state preparation and superconducting qubit QND readout (HAYSTAC, ADMX); (2) dark radiation/energy detection with Cooper-pair box quasiparticle sensors; (3) GW detectors based on high-B-field microwave cavities probing early-universe phase transitions; (4) emergent gauge symmetries in quantum spin liquids. Co-PI DARPA QuSeN (quantum sensing of neutrinos, 2025). Devices/Sensors lead, DOE Quantum Science Center.
Flambaum is one of the most cited atomic theorists alive and the intellectual source of a large fraction of the modern precision-AMO new-physics programme. His group computes the atomic and molecular structure factors that convert an experimental frequency shift into a bound on new physics: enhancement factors for electron and nuclear EDMs, atomic parity violation, the sensitivity of clock transitions to variation of the fine-structure constant, and — most relevant to quantum sensing — the response of atomic clocks, magnetometers and comagnetometers to ultralight/axion-like dark matter fields. He proposed much of the theory behind using networks of quantum sensors as dark matter detectors. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work — DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity — his theory is what tells an experimentalist what a pT/sqrt(Hz) magnetometer or a 10^-18 clock actually constrains: without it, a spin-precession measurement is just a number. Theory group; a sensing postdoc would collaborate rather than join.
The Geraci group employs high-Q resonant sensors for ultra-sensitive force and field detection in searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Key thrusts: (1) Optically-trapped levitated dielectric nanospheres and microspheres achieving zeptonewton (10⁻²¹ N) force sensitivity, applied to probing short-range deviations from Newtonian gravity at micrometer scales; (2) ARIADNE, an international NMR-based experiment using superfluid ³He to search for the QCD axion via axion-mediated spin-dependent forces between a rotating mass and polarized nuclei; (3) Collaboration on MAGIS-100, the 100 m-tall atom interferometer at Fermilab for gravitational wave detection in the mid-band (0.3–10 Hz) and ultralight dark matter searches; (4) Cryogenic optical cavity dark matter comparisons with Gabrielse and Kovachy groups. Member of CFP Northwestern and CIERA. APS Francis M. Pipkin Award 2023.
Graham is a theoretical physicist whose phenomenological proposals directly motivate several leading quantum-sensing experiments -- co-designing the MAGIS atom-interferometer program for gravitational waves and ultralight dark matter, and the DMRadio lumped-element axion search -- bridging fundamental theory with concrete experimental sensor concepts rather than running his own lab. [Included as a borderline/theory-side match per filter guidance; kept for review.]
Irwin invented the transition-edge sensor (TES) and pioneered SQUID-multiplexed readout now used throughout CMB and dark-matter detector arrays; his group builds quantum-limited electromagnetic sensors for axion dark matter searches (DMRadio) and cryogenic calorimeters, pushing sensitivity to the standard quantum limit and beyond -- a field of quantum sensing that, like ensemble NV-diamond magnetometry reaching pT/√Hz sensitivities, trades off bandwidth and volume for extreme field sensitivity.
Knirck builds novel microwave- and mm-wave-frequency detectors (ADMX resonant cavities, MADMAX dielectric haloscopes, and the broadband BREAD/dish-antenna concept) to search for axion dark matter, explicitly leveraging cutting-edge single-photon quantum sensing to push beyond the standard quantum limit. He describes axion searches as sitting directly at the intersection of particle physics, astrophysics, photonics, and quantum sensing, and is building a new experimental group at Harvard.
The Kovachy Group applies quantum wave properties of ultracold atoms to precision sensing. Primary focus: (1) Advanced large-momentum-transfer (LMT) atom interferometer pulse sequences using Bragg diffraction and Bloch oscillations to achieve record momentum splits of 100s of ℏk, enhancing sensitivity for fundamental physics tests; (2) MAGIS-100 collaboration — the 100 m-tall atom interferometer at Fermilab targeting gravitational waves in the mid-band complementary to LIGO/LISA, dark matter field searches, and tests of quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales; (3) Search for deviations from Newtonian gravity at micrometer range using atom-interferometric force sensing, and a new measurement of Newton's gravitational constant G; (4) Cryogenic optical cavity dark matter search (with Gabrielse and Geraci groups). David and Lucile Packard Fellow (2020), Paul Ehrenfest Best Paper Award 2020, NIST Precision Measurement Grant 2019. Member of CFP Northwestern and CIERA.
McDonald leads the Quantum Technologies for Fundamental Physics (QTFP) theme at CQSE Manchester. Research directions: (1) Manchester Axion Novel Cavity eXperiment (MANCX) — building a cavity haloscope to search for QCD axions and axion-like particles coupling to photons via resonant microwave cavity enhancement at Manchester; (2) Astroparticle theory — superradiance from black holes for ultralight dark matter/axion bounds; neutron star probes of new physics; (3) Dark energy / extended gravity — vacuum energy and Casimir-type effects; (4) High-frequency gravitational waves — novel detection concepts. Workshop chair for Manchester's QTFP international workshop (Jan 2026). Interdisciplinary collaboration with quantum engineers, low-temperature physicists, and particle physicists.
Best known as a collider (ATLAS) physicist, Miller also leads the BREAD collaboration's broadband dish-antenna search for axion dark matter, converting axions to photons inside a solenoid magnet and reading them out with a THz receiver and Fourier-transform spectrometer to cover mass ranges inaccessible to narrowband cavity haloscopes. This is a fundamentally different quantum-sensing strategy than solid-state NV-ensemble magnetometers/thermometers, which reach pT/sqrt(Hz)-class sensitivity via DEER, NMR, and T1-relaxometry protocols on spin ensembles; Miller's approach instead pushes broadband photon-counting sensitivity for fundamental-physics searches. Actively recruiting postdocs for BREAD instrumentation and analysis.