Physics Colloquium: “Phonons, Qubits and Dark Matter: Bridging Quantum Technologies and Fundamental Physics”

The Syracuse University Department of Physics is pleased to welcome Dr. Caleb Fink, Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, for his talk titled, “Phonons, Qubits, and Dark Matter: Bridging Quantum Technologies and Fundamental Physics.”

Quantum information science (QIS) is rapidly transforming our understanding of computation, communication, and precision measurement. However, scaling up quantum technologies and maintaining coherence are significant challenges across many platforms, with superconducting qubits being a prominent example. At the same time, particle physics experiments searching for low-mass dark matter have observed an unexpected and persistent excess of events at very low energies. Interestingly, these low-energy events appear to be linked to excess phonon-mediated superconducting quasiparticles, which play a critical role in limiting the performance of superconducting qubits. Dr. Fink’s research bridges these two fields, using classical and quantum sensors to tackle challenges in QIS while simultaneously advancing particle physics.

In this talk, Dr. Fink will explore how devices like transition-edge sensors (TES) help unravel the mechanisms behind quasiparticle poisoning in superconducting qubits. He will also highlight how quantum sensors, such as the Superconducting Quasiparticle-Amplifying Transmon (SQUAT), enable ultra-sensitive dark matter detection and open pathways to discovering other new physics beyond the Standard Model. By connecting the shared challenges in these fields, he will demonstrate how insights from QIS and particle physics can drive transformative breakthroughs in both fields, paving the way for exciting discoveries.

Caleb Fink’s research can be broadly described as leveraging quantum phenomena to develop highly sensitive instrumentation for the detection of rare events. Dr. Fink completed his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley where he developed low-mass dark matter detectors using superconducting sensors patterned on cryogenic crystals. He is currently a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the quantum group of the Materials, Physics, and Applications division, where he works on developing new sensors based on novel topological materials and superconducting qubit devices.