Symmetron Dark Energy in Laboratory Experiments.

The symmetron scalar field is a matter-coupled dark energy candidate which effectively decouples from matter in high-density regions through a symmetry restoration. We consider a previously unexplored regime, in which the vacuum mass μ ~ 2.4×10-3 eV of the symmetron is near the dark energy scale, and the matter coupling parameter M ~ 1 TeV is just beyond standard model energies. Such a field will give rise to a fifth force at submillimeter distances which can be probed by short-range gravity experiments. We show that a torsion pendulum experiment such as Eöt-Wash can exclude symmetrons in this regime for all self-couplings λ 7.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]