A Large Scale Dark-Matter Axion Search

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The axion is one of many particles in physics which are believed to exist for theoretical reasons but which have never been detected experimentally. This grant will enable the development of search techniques which will either reveal the existence of the axion or rule it out. The axion could play a role in two of the most important problems in particle physics. First, the axion could make up the `cold dark matter` of the universe. Much of the mass of the universe may be in the form of `cold dark matter which is not directly detectable. Second, the axion's existence would explain why the strong force conserves certain symmetries of nature while the weak force does not.