Optomechanical sensors as probes for new physics

Mechanical systems with increasingly large size are reaching the quantum limit, dovetailing advances in dissipation engineering and cryogenic cavity optomechanics. As we enter the age of quantum technology, an important question is to what extent such macroscopic quantum systems can play a role. I'll discuss one perspective that envisions quantum-limited optomechanical sensors as probes for new physics, highlighting as an example a set of recent proposals for optomechanical dark matter detection. In this context, our lab is developing a new generation of optomechanical accelerometers based on centimeter-scale silicon nitride membranes.