{
  "abstract": "We report on an improved microwave detection protocol for dark matter candidates such as the axion and the dark photon. We employ a superconducting transmon qubit dispersively coupled to a double-cavity system, enabling quantum non-demolition measurements of the photon occupation in a relatively short-lived storage cavity. To reduce the experimental cycle time and enhance sensitivity for axion and dark-photon searches, we operate this detector in a regime of increased qubit-cavity coupling, resulting in Stark shifts of 4.6 MHz. In this regime, conventional control pulses suffer from strong frequency-detuning sensitivity and photon-number-dependent errors. We address this limitation by implementing frequency-detuning-robust $π/2$ pulses (obtained by machine-learning optimization) that preserve high-fidelity qubit control over a bandwidth of approximately 20 MHz. We experimentally validate this protocol and demonstrate single-photon detection performance comparable to previous implementations, despite significantly reduced qubit coherence times and storage-cavity lifetimes. Using parity-based measurement sequences combined with a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) analysis, we achieve background rates on the order of $\\mathcal{O}(20)$ Hz. In the absence of a magnetic field, we derive exclusion limits on the dark photon model for dark matter, reaching a sensitivity to the kinetic mixing angle of $ε_{95\\%} \\sim 1\\times10^{-14}$ at 5.051 GHz. These results establish machine-learning robust control as a key enabler for faster, more scalable microwave quantum sensors for dark-matter searches.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2606.25795",
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Yu-Han Chang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ilya Moskalenko"
    },
    {
      "name": "Marko Kuzmanović"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ognjen Stanisavljević"
    },
    {
      "name": "Isak Björkman"
    },
    {
      "name": "David Díez-Ibáñez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yikun Gu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Akash V. Dixit"
    },
    {
      "name": "Igor G. Irastorza"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gheorghe Sorin Paraoanu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dkxd13hjzkn9f.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2606.25795",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "dkxd13hjzkn9f",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.25795",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.supr-con"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "gr-qc"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ex"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2606.25795",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-06-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dkxd13hjzkn9f.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:03Z",
      "native_id": "2606.25795",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.25795"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.supr-con",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:gr-qc",
      "subfield": "gravitation"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ex",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Benchmarking Dark Matter Search using a Parity-Check Protocol with Machine-Learning Optimized Pulses",
  "title_text": "Benchmarking Dark Matter Search using a Parity-Check Protocol with Machine-Learning Optimized Pulses",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:03Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dkxd13hjzkn9f",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": [
    {
      "doi": "10.1103/m92t-xwgt",
      "pid": null,
      "relation": "published-as",
      "title": null,
      "venue": null
    }
  ]
}