Collaborative Research: Axion Resonant InterAction DetectioN Experiment (ARIADNE)

多项天文观测证实，宇宙中约85%的物质不是由已知粒子组成的。破译这种所谓的暗物质的本质对宇宙学、天体物理学和高能粒子物理学具有根本的重要性。粒子物理学中最激动人心的任务之一是寻找超越粒子物理标准模型的新粒子。标准模型的扩展不仅预测了具有大质量的新粒子，而且还预测了一些质量非常小的新粒子。这样的候选者就是轴子，它被引入来解释量子色动力学中电荷宇称(CP)破坏的微小，事实证明它也是宇宙中暗物质成分的主要候选者。该奖项将为研发提供资金，用于开发一种新的实验，以寻找亚毫米范围内原子核之间类似轴子的相互作用。在参与这项研究的同时，一组博士后、研究生和本科生研究人员将在实验原子物理的各种技术方面进行广泛培训，如低温物理、磁屏蔽、真空系统和建模。该实验包括一个旋转的非磁性质量来产生轴子场，以及一个密集的激光极化的He-3原子核系综来用核磁共振来探测轴子场。通过在核自旋进动频率处适当地调制轴子势，可以共振地增强来自轴子场的信号。该方法有可能将以前的实验和天体物理对轴子的限制提高几个数量级，并深入探索Peccei-Quinn(PQ)轴子的理论有趣的区域。这项实验对更奇异的轴子状粒子也很敏感。据估计，这种方法最终可以超过目前实验室对自旋相关短程力的限制高达8个数量级，并可以在10^9到10^12之间的fa素轴子区内，比实验室/天体物理联合限制提高10^4倍，深入探讨了Pq轴子的理论有趣的区域。与宇宙轴子搜索不同，该装置对轴子很敏感，即使它不构成暗物质的大部分。

Multiple astronomical observations have established that about 85% of the matter in the universe is not made of known particles. Deciphering the nature of this so-called Dark Matter is of fundamental importance to cosmology, astrophysics, and high-energy particle physics. One of the most exciting quests in particle physics is the search for new particles beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Extensions of the Standard Model predict not only new particles with large masses but also some with very small masses. Such a candidate is the axion, which has been introduced to explain the smallness of Charge-Parity (CP) violation in Quantum Chromodynamics and which turns out to also be a prime candidate for a constituent of the dark matter in the universe. This award will provide funds for R&D towards developing a new experiment to search for axion-like interactions between nuclei at sub-millimeter ranges. While participating in this research, a team of postdocs, graduate students and undergraduate researchers will be broadly trained in the various techniques of experimental atomic physics such as low-temperature physics, magnetic shielding, vacuum systems and modeling. The experiment involves a rotating non-magnetic mass to source the axion field, and a dense ensemble of laser-polarized He-3 nuclei to detect the axion field by NMR. The signal from an axion field can be resonantly enhanced by properly modulating the axion potential at the nuclear spin precession frequency. The method has the potential to improve previous experimental and astrophysical bounds on axions by several orders of magnitude and probe deep into the theoretically interesting regime for the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) axion. The experiment is also sensitive to more exotic axion-like particles. It is estimated that this method can ultimately exceed present laboratory constraints on spin-dependent short-range forces by up to eight orders of magnitude and can improve on the combined laboratory/astrophysical limits by a factor of 10^4 in the prime axion range of f_a between 10^9 and 10^12, probing deep into the theoretically interesting regime for the PQ axion. In contrast to cosmic axion searches, the setup is sensitive to the axion even if it does not make up most of the dark matter.