Axion Dark Matter Experiment at High Frequency (ADMX-HF)

高频 Axion 暗物质实验 (ADMX-HF)

• 批准号: 1701396
• 负责人: Steven Lamoreaux
• 金额: $ 64.89万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-01 至 2021-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1701396&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Axion; Dark; Matter; Experiment; Frequency

Multiple astronomical observations have established that about 85% of the matter in the universe is not made of known elementary 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 is the search for new particles beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics, which describes all the known elementary particles and the interactions between them. Extensions of the model predict not only new particles with large masses but also some with very small masses. Such a candidate for the latter is the axion, which has been introduced to explain the smallness of the violation of the Charge-Parity (CP) symmetry in Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory describing the action of the strong force, for example the interactions between protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei. The axion turns out to also be a prime candidate for a constituent of the dark matter in the universe. Axions constituting the dark matter of our Milky Way halo may be detected through their conversion into a narrow Radio-Frequency signal in a microwave cavity permeated by a magnetic field. Searching for this signal is the goal of this project.R&D on superconducting thin-films together with squeezed-state and single-photon detection in quantum electronics will certainly produce unanticipated spin-offs. ADMX-HF at Yale, has already proven to be a great attractor for young talent, with roughly half being women. The experiment provides a focal point for the PI's outreach activities with high school teachers in the greater New Haven area. It is planned to establish a permanent exhibit on dark-sector science at the Yale Peabody Museum, one of the foremost natural history museums in the world.This experiment represents the inaugural use of both Josephson Parametric Amplifiers (JPAs) in the microwave cavity search, and operation with a dilution refrigerator. The ADMX-HF PIs have laid out a future strategy for improving sensitivity, showing that, for above 10 GHz, an optimized search will require transitioning from linear amplifiers to photon detection schemes that can evade the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL) noise. The experiment's plans include: a) reducing the system noise below the SQL, initially by incorporating a JPA-based squeezed-vacuum state receiver; eventually, photon detector systems based on superconducting qubits will be developed and deployed; b) implementing a Photonic Band Gap (PBG) structure as an alternative to a traditional microwave cavity; if successful it will completely eliminate the forest of TE modes interfering with the TM mode of interest, which have been a bane to fast and efficient mass coverage; and c) boosting the cavity Q by one of two avenues: Incorporating multilayer structures of thin-film Type-II superconductors into the cavity design, or the use of Distributed Bragg Reflector cavities based on nested dielectric cylinders. R&D on the fabrication and characterization of planar thin-films of NbTiN, a Type-II superconductor is showing great promise. Technical deliverables expected are to (a) extend the mass range of the search to 12 GHz (50 micro eV), and (b) deliver an improvement in power sensitivity by a factor of five, and thus approach sensitivity to DFSZ axions. This will dramatically improve our discovery potential in the most promising mass region.

多次天文观测已经证实，宇宙中大约85%的物质不是由已知的基本粒子构成的。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至关重要。最令人兴奋的任务之一是寻找超越粒子物理学标准模型的新粒子，标准模型描述了所有已知的基本粒子以及它们之间的相互作用。该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粒子。轴子是后者的一个候选对象，它被用来解释量子色动力学中电荷宇称（CP）对称性被破坏的微小性。量子色动力学是描述强作用力作用的理论，例如构成原子核的质子和中子之间的相互作用。轴子也被证明是宇宙中暗物质组成部分的主要候选者。构成我们银河系晕的暗物质的轴子可以通过在磁场渗透的微波腔中转换成狭窄的射频信号来检测。寻找这种信号是这个项目的目标，超导薄膜的研发以及量子电子学中的压缩态和单光子探测肯定会产生意想不到的副产品。耶鲁大学的ADMX-HF项目已经被证明对年轻人才极具吸引力，其中大约一半是女性。该实验为PI与大纽黑文地区高中教师的外展活动提供了一个焦点。计划在世界上最重要的自然历史博物馆之一的耶鲁皮博迪博物馆（Yale Peabody Museum）建立一个关于黑暗科学的永久性展览。该实验首次使用约瑟夫森参数放大器（JPAs）进行微波腔搜索，并使用稀释冰箱进行操作。ADMX-HF pi已经制定了提高灵敏度的未来策略，表明在10 GHz以上，优化搜索将需要从线性放大器过渡到可以逃避标准量子极限（SQL）噪声的光子检测方案。该实验的计划包括：a)降低SQL以下的系统噪声，最初是通过合并一个基于jpa的压缩真空状态接收器；最终，基于超导量子比特的光子探测器系统将被开发和部署；b)实现光子带隙（PBG）结构作为传统微波腔的替代方案；如果成功，它将彻底消除干扰TM模式的TE模式森林，这些模式一直是快速有效的大规模覆盖的祸害；c)通过以下两种途径之一来提高空腔Q：将薄膜ii型超导体的多层结构结合到空腔设计中，或者使用基于嵌套介质圆柱体的分布式布拉格反射腔。ii型超导体NbTiN平面薄膜的制备和表征研究前景广阔。预期的技术成果是(a)将搜索的质量范围扩展到12 GHz(50微eV), (b)将功率灵敏度提高五倍，从而接近对DFSZ轴子的灵敏度。这将极大地提高我们在最有希望的质量区域的发现潜力。

项目成果

A quantum enhanced search for dark matter axions

• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03226-7
• 发表时间: 2021-02-11
• 期刊: NATURE
• 影响因子: 64.8
• 作者: Backes, K. M.;Palken, D. A.;Wang, H.
• 通讯作者: Wang, H.

HAYSTAC axion search analysis procedure

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.96.123008
• 发表时间: 2017-12-18
• 期刊: PHYSICAL REVIEW D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Brubaker, B. M.;Zhong, L.;van Bibber, K. A.
• 通讯作者: van Bibber, K. A.

Improved analysis framework for axion dark matter searches

改进的轴子暗物质搜索分析框架

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.101.123011
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Palken, D. A.;Brubaker, B. M.;Malnou, M.;Kenany, S. Al;Backes, K. M.;Cahn, S. B.;Gurevich, Y. V.;Lamoreaux, S. K.;Lewis, S. M.;Maruyama, R. H.
• 通讯作者: Maruyama, R. H.

Results from phase 1 of the HAYSTAC microwave cavity axion experiment

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.97.092001
• 发表时间: 2018-03
• 期刊: Physical Review D
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: L. Zhong;S. Al Kenany;K. Backes;B. Brubaker;S. Cahn;G. Carosi;Y. Gurevich;W. Kindel;S. Lamoreaux;K. Lehnert;S. Lewis;M. Malnou;R. Maruyama;D. Palken;N. Rapidis;J. Root;M. Simanovskaia;T. Shokair;D. Speller;I. Urdinaran;K. Van Bibber