A Broadband Approach to Cosmic Axion Detection

Multiple astronomical observations have established that about 85% of the matter in the universe is not made of normal atoms, but must be otherwise undetected elementary "dark matter" particles that do not emit or absorb light. The nature of this so-called Dark Matter (DM) is one of the great mysteries of physics and deciphering its nature is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics. Axion particles have become an attractive solution to this mystery as other theories have become more constrained by direct detection and collider experiments. The detection of axion-like particles often relies on their coupling to electromagnetic fields and therefore they require radically different experimental approaches than traditional particle detectors. ABRACADABRA-10cm ("A Broadband/Resonant Approach to Cosmic Axion Detection with an Amplifying B-field Ring Apparatus") involves building a 10cm diameter toroidal magnet. The static magnetic field created may then produce a secondary, oscillating magnetic field induced by axion DM. The frequency of oscillation is proportional to the axion mass.

Undergraduate research is critical for recruiting and retaining physics students. They will be included in all aspects of the experiment from the installation of the magnet to the acquisition and analysis of data. This is a unique opportunity for undergraduate researchers to contribute to a world leading experiment at their home institution.

ABRACADABRA-10cm is a "high risk-high payoff" experiment since the sensitivity of the experiment is dominated by the noise detected in the superconducting pickup loop read out by a SQUID magnetometer. There are many noise sources that are hard to quantify without an existing apparatus. This EAGER award will use the cryogenic detector expertise of MIT's Laboratory for Nuclear Science and the magnet expertise of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion center to form an interdisciplinary team to build ABRACADABRA-10cm and search for axions in a relatively unexplored parameter space.