Status of the large-scale dark-matter axion search
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States); and others
If axions constitute the dark matter of our galactic halo they can be detected by their conversion into monochromatic microwave photons in a high-Q microwave cavity permeated by a strong magnetic field. A large-scale experiment is under construction at LLNL to search for halo axions in the mass range 1.3 - 13 {mu}eV, where axions may constitute closure density of the universe. The search builds upon two pilot efforts at BNL and the University of Florida in the late 1980`s, and represents a large improvement in power sensitivity ({approximately}50) both due to the increase in magnetic volume (B{sup 2}V = 14 T{sup 2}m{sup 3}), and anticipated total noise temperature (T{sub n} {approximately}3K). This search will also mark the first use of multiple power-combined cavities to extend the mass range accessible by this technique. Data will be analyzed in two parallel streams. In the first, the resolution of the power spectrum will be sufficient to resolve the expected width of the overall axion line, {approximately}{bigcirc} (1kHz). In the second, the resolution will be {bigcirc}(O.01-1 Hz) to look for extremely narrow substructure reflecting the primordial phase-space of the axions during infall. This experiment will be the first to have the required sensitivity to detect axions, for plausible axion models.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48; AC03-76SF00098; AC02-76CH03000; FC02-94ER40818; FG05-86ER40272; FG02-90ER40560
- OSTI ID:
- 48587
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-118357; CONF-9402136-1; ON: DE95008828; TRN: 95:003743
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International conference on critique of the source of dark matter in the universe, Bel Air, CA (United States), 16-18 Feb 1994; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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