EAGER: A Broadband Approach to Cosmic Axion Detection

EAGER：宇宙轴子探测的宽带方法

• 批准号: 1658693
• 负责人: Lindley Winslow
• 金额: $ 12.3万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-01 至 2017-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1658693&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Broadband; Approach; Cosmic; Axion

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.

多次天文观察结果表明，宇宙中约有85％的物质不是正常原子制成的，但必须是未发现的基本“暗物质”颗粒，这些颗粒不会发出或吸收光。这种所谓的暗物质（DM）的性质是物理学的最大奥秘之一，对其性质解密，对宇宙学，天体物理学和高能粒子物理学至关重要。由于直接检测和对撞机实验，其他理论已变得更加限制，因此轴突颗粒已成为一种有吸引力的解决方案。轴突样颗粒的检测通常依赖于它们与电磁场的耦合，因此与传统粒子探测器相比，它们需要完全不同的实验方法。 Abracadabra-10cm（“使用放大的B场环设备进行宇宙轴测检测的宽带/谐振方法”涉及构建直径为10厘米的环形磁铁。然后，产生的静态磁场可能会产生由轴DM诱导的二次振荡磁场。振荡的频率与轴突质量成正比。研究生研究对于招募和保留物理学生至关重要。它们将包括在实验的各个方面，从磁铁的安装到数据的获取和分析。对于本科研究人员来说，这是一个独特的机会，为他们的家庭机构做出了一个世界领先的实验。Abracadabra-10cm是一个“高风险高的回报”实验，因为实验的灵敏度主要由超导管拾取器中检测到的噪声所占据主导地位。没有现有设备，很难量化许多噪声源。该渴望的奖项将使用MIT的核科学实验室的低温探测器专业知识以及MIT的等离子体科学与融合中心的磁性专业知识组成一个跨学科团队，以建立Abracadabra-10cm，并在相对未开发的参数空间中寻找轴心。