"Fuzzy" Dark Matter Direct Detection with Quantum Gyroscopes: Status, Challenges and Prospects

I will present experimental efforts towards a laboratory search for "Fuzzy" dark matter based on atomic gyroscopes. Fuzzy dark matter -- DM whose wavelength is comparable to the smallest observed galaxies -- is an intriguing dark matter candidate. It is easily meets all the requirements of dark matter, while also resolving some tension between the cold dark matter paradigm and astrophysical observations. Furthermore, it is naturally produced with the correct abundance by symmetry-breaking at the Planck scale, a very well motivated scenario that happens at the energy scale where gravity and quantum mechanics are expected to unify. Direct searches are a long way from Planck-scale sensitivity, but I will present data showing that we should have sensitivity to new regions of well-motivated dark matter parameter space in the near future. I will describe the experimental approach which is based on quantum mechanical gyroscopes, along with recent progress in adapting them to a viable search for fuzzy DM. I will also touch on the specific challenges faced when searching for dark matter of such low mass.