skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Revealing the dark matter halo with axion direct detection

Journal Article · · Physical Review. D.
 [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

The next generation of axion direct-detection experiments may rule out or confirm axions as the dominant source of dark matter. Here we develop a general likelihood-based framework for studying the time-series data at such experiments, with a focus on the role of dark matter astrophysics, to search for signatures of the QCD axion or axionlike particles. Here we illustrate how in the event of a detection the likelihood framework may be used to extract measures of the local dark matter phase-space distribution, accounting for effects such as annual modulation and gravitational focusing, which is the perturbation to the dark matter phase-space distribution by the gravitational field of the Sun. Moreover, we show how potential dark matter substructure, such as cold dark matter streams or a thick dark disk, could impact the signal. For example, we find that when the bulk dark matter halo is detected at 5σ global significance, the unique time-dependent features imprinted by the dark matter component of the Sagittarius stream, even if only a few percent of the local dark matter density, may be detectable at ~2σ significance. A corotating dark disk, with lag speed ~50 km/s, that is ~20% of the local dark matter density could dominate the signal, while colder but as-of-yet unknown substructure may be even more important. Our likelihood formalism, and the results derived with it, are generally applicable to any time-series-based approach to axion direct detection.

Research Organization:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0013999; SC00012567
OSTI ID:
1541173
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1454310
Report Number(s):
LCTP-17-08; MIT-CTP 4964
Journal Information:
Physical Review. D., Vol. 97, Issue 12; ISSN 2470-0010
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 85 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (92)

Searching for galactic axions through magnetized media: The QUAX proposal journal March 2017
The not-so-harmless axion journal January 1983
Dielectric haloscopes: sensitivity to the axion dark matter velocity journal October 2017
Dark matter direct search rates in simulations of the Milky Way and Sagittarius stream journal August 2012
Axion astronomy with microwave cavity experiments journal March 2017
Search for Axionlike Dark Matter through Nuclear Spin Precession in Electric and Magnetic Fields journal November 2017
Cosmology of the invisible axion journal January 1983
Review of Particle Physics journal October 2016
Axion dark matter detection with cold molecules journal September 2011
Proposal for Axion Dark Matter Detection Using an L C Circuit journal March 2014
Limiting P -Odd Interactions of Cosmic Fields with Electrons, Protons, and Neutrons journal August 2014
Experimental Tests of the "Invisible" Axion journal October 1983
The QUAX-g g experiment to search for monopole-dipole Axion interaction
  • Crescini, N.; Braggio, C.; Carugno, G.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 842 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.10.050
journal January 2017
Can confinement ensure natural CP invariance of strong interactions? journal April 1980
Axion detection via topological Casimir effect journal July 2017
Axion Dark Matter Coupling to Resonant Photons via Magnetic Field journal April 2016
CULTASK, The Coldest Axion Experiment at CAPP/IBS in Korea conference November 2016
Problem of Strong P and T Invariance in the Presence of Instantons journal January 1978
A simple solution to the strong CP problem with a harmless axion journal August 1981
Dark matter debris flows in the Milky Way journal November 2012
HAYSTAC axion search analysis procedure journal December 2017
X-ray spectral modelling of the AGN obscuring region in the CDFS: Bayesian model selection and catalogue journal April 2014
Astrophysical uncertainties on the local dark matter distribution and direct detection experiments journal June 2017
Prospects for searching axionlike particle dark matter with dipole, toroidal, and wiggler magnets journal February 2012
Limits on axion–photon coupling or on local axion density: Dependence on models of the Milky Way’s dark halo journal December 2016
Improved rf cavity search for halo axions journal January 2004
Proposal for a Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr) journal May 2014
Experimental Tests of the "Invisible" Axion journal February 1984
Possible resonance effect of dark matter axions in SNS Josephson junctions conference March 2018
The Measurement of Thermal Radiation at Microwave Frequencies journal July 1946
Dark-matter harmonics beyond annual modulation journal November 2013
Axion mass estimates from resonant Josephson junctions journal March 2015
Axion induced oscillating electric dipole moments journal June 2015
Parity-violating interactions of cosmic fields with atoms, molecules, and nuclei: Concepts and calculations for laboratory searches and extracting limits journal November 2014
Axion induced oscillating electric dipole moment of the electron journal January 2016
Towards a medium-scale axion helioscope and haloscope journal November 2017
Constraints imposed by CP conservation in the presence of pseudoparticles journal September 1977
Detecting the Milky Way'S dark disk journal April 2009
Searching for WISPy cold dark matter with a dish antenna journal April 2013
Use of a DC SQUID receiver preamplifier in a low field MRI system journal June 1995
MultiNest: an efficient and robust Bayesian inference tool for cosmology and particle physics journal October 2009
Experimental targets for photon couplings of the QCD axion journal February 2018
Broadband and Resonant Approaches to Axion Dark Matter Detection journal September 2016
CP Conservation in the Presence of Pseudoparticles journal June 1977
Design Overview of DM Radio Pathfinder Experiment journal June 2017
Effect of Gravitational Focusing on Annual Modulation in Dark-Matter Direct-Detection Experiments journal January 2014
Weak-Interaction Singlet and Strong CP Invariance journal July 1979
The Sun and its Planets as detectors for invisible matter journal September 2017
Flux Enhancement of Slow-Moving Particles by sun or Jupiter: can they be Detected on Earth? journal December 2013
Dielectric haloscopes to search for axion dark matter: theoretical foundations journal January 2017
Stimulated emission of dark matter axion from condensed matter excitations journal January 2018
Experimental Constraints on the Axion Dark Matter Halo Density journal May 2002
SQUID-Based Microwave Cavity Search for Dark-Matter Axions journal January 2010
Stellar Wakes from Dark Matter Subhalos journal May 2018
New observables for direct detection of axion dark matter journal August 2013
Axionic dark matter signatures in various halo models journal February 2017
Colloquium : Annual modulation of dark matter journal November 2013
High resolution search for dark-matter axions journal July 2006
Erratum: Axion Dark Matter Coupling to Resonant Photons via Magnetic Field [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 , 161804 (2016)] journal October 2016
Searching for Dark Matter and Variation of Fundamental Constants with Laser and Maser Interferometry journal April 2015
Axion-induced effects in atoms, molecules, and nuclei: Parity nonconservation, anapole moments, electric dipole moments, and spin-gravity and spin-axion momentum couplings journal February 2014
Diurnal and annual modulation of cold dark matter signals journal December 2004
Bound and unbound substructures in Galaxy-scale dark matter haloes: Structures in Galaxy-scale dark matter haloes journal June 2011
The ORGAN experiment: An axion haloscope above 15 GHz journal December 2017
Future directions in the microwave cavity search for dark matter axions journal July 2014
Redefining the Axion Window journal January 2017
Constraints on very light axions from cavity experiments journal July 1998
Spin precession experiments for light axionic dark matter journal March 2018
First Results from a Microwave Cavity Axion Search at 24 μ eV journal February 2017
Directional detection of dark matter streams journal December 2014
Gradiometer pick-up coil design for a low field SQUID-MRI system
  • Seton, H. C.; Hutchison, J. M. S.; Bussell, D. M.
  • Magma: Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology, and Medicine, Vol. 8, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02590528
journal May 1999
Axion-photon conversion caused by dielectric interfaces: quantum field calculation journal September 2017
The dark disk of the Milky way journal September 2009
A cosmological bound on the invisible axion journal January 1983
Cryogenic cavity detector for a large-scale cold dark-matter axion search
  • Peng, H.; Asztalos, S.; Daw, E.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 444, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(99)00971-7
journal April 2000
Radio for hidden-photon dark matter detection journal October 2015
The QUAX proposal: a search of galactic axion with magnetic materials journal May 2016
Phase-space structure in the local dark matter distribution and its signature in direct detection experiments journal May 2009
Erratum to: Asymptotic formulae for likelihood-based tests of new physics journal July 2013
Asymptotic formulae for likelihood-based tests of new physics journal February 2011
A dark matter disc in three cosmological simulations of Milky Way mass galaxies journal July 2009
Design and operational experience of a microwave cavity axion detector for the 20 100 μ eV range
  • Al Kenany, S.; Anil, M. A.; Backes, K. M.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 854 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.02.012
journal May 2017
Possible Resonance Effect of Axionic Dark Matter in Josephson Junctions journal December 2013
Thin, thick and dark discs in ΛCDM journal September 2008
Axion cosmology journal July 2016
Detectability of weakly interacting massive particles in the Sagittarius dwarf tidal stream journal February 2005
Dielectric Haloscopes: A New Way to Detect Axion Dark Matter journal March 2017
A New Light Boson? journal January 1978
Annual modulation of dark matter in the presence of streams journal August 2006
The metal-poor stellar halo in RAVE-TGAS and its implications for the velocity distribution of dark matter journal April 2018
Galactic substructure and direct detection of dark matter journal May 2008
Large-scale microwave cavity search for dark-matter axions journal October 2001

Cited By (2)

Improved analysis framework for axion dark matter searches journal June 2020
Dark matter interferometry journal April 2021