Hidden in the Light: Magnetically Induced Afterglow from Trapped Chameleon Fields

Understand

We propose an afterglow phenomenon as a unique trace of chameleon fields in optical experiments.

• The vacuum interaction of a laser pulse with a magnetic field can lead to a production and subsequent trapping of chameleons in the vacuum chamber, owing to their mass dependence on the ambient matter density.
• Magnetically induced re-conversion of the trapped chameleons into photons creates an afterglow over macroscopic timescales that can conveniently be searched for by current optical experiments.
• We show that the chameleon parameter range accessible to available laboratory technology is comparable to scales familiar from astrophysical stellar energy loss arguments.