ALPS II: Commissioning and Data Taking

天文观测已经证实，宇宙在很大程度上是黑暗的，大约85%的物质由未知的粒子组成。确定这种暗物质的性质将影响我们对宇宙学、天体物理学和粒子物理学的基本知识，也是在标准模型之外进行最广泛的新物理研究的基础，到目前为止，标准模型在描述我们的理解方面非常有效。标准模型的扩展预测了包括轴子在内的弱相互作用的轻(亚电子伏)粒子，这些粒子已被引入为暗物质的主要候选者。任意轻粒子搜索(ALPS)II实验旨在为这些迄今为止使用光线穿壁照射(LSW)技术的任何测量的低质量粒子提供最高的搜索灵敏度。Alps II探测器位于德国汉堡的DESY，目前正在建设中，该奖项支持佛罗里达大学的Alps II小组使用该团队开发的外差探测方案执行即将到来的调试和科学运行。该实验为博士后和学生研究人员提供了一个独特和多样化的培训基础，以发展电子和反馈控制系统、真空和低温、计算方法和数据分析算法、大规模探测器的调试和操作以及暗物质物理和宇宙学方面的技能。阿尔卑斯山的实验旨在寻找将光子转化为低质量粒子的相互作用，反之亦然，从而使光子重新出现在原本不透光的墙后面。这些低质量粒子包括轴子状粒子、它们的标量对应粒子以及隐藏的扇形光子，它们将贡献甚至完全形成无所不在的暗物质。阿尔卑斯山II实验由两根120米长的5.3T HERA电偶极子组成，它们分别位于墙的两侧。一个光腔被用来在墙的一侧将功率提高到高达1 mW，而第二个腔在墙的另一侧放大了再现过程。与太阳望远镜和同样用于寻找轴子类粒子的日冕望远镜不同，阿尔卑斯山没有对恒星演化做出任何假设，也没有假设任何特定的暗物质模型。该实验仅依赖于提出的光子与假定的非标准模型粒子之间的基本相互作用。阿尔卑斯II实验将在再生光子方面超过过去LSW搜索的12个数量级，并探索最近受到天文和其他观测青睐的参数空间。这一奖励反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Astronomical observations have established that the Universe is largely dark, with approximately 85% of the matter made of yet unknown particles. Determining the nature of this dark matter will impact our fundamental knowledge of cosmology, astrophysics and particle physics and is the basis for one of the most extensive searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model that has been so effective in describing our understanding to date. Extensions of the Standard Model predict weakly interacting light (sub-electronvolt) particles, including axions, which have been introduced as a primary candidate for the dark matter. The Any Light Particle Search (ALPS) II experiment is designed to provide the highest search sensitivity for these low-mass particles of any measurements to date that use the Light Shining Through a Wall (LSW) technique. Located at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, the ALPS II detector is now under construction and this award supports the ALPS II group at the University of Florida to perform the upcoming commissioning and science runs using the heterodyne detection scheme developed by the team. The experiment provides a unique and diverse training ground for postdoctoral and student researchers to develop skills in electronics and feedback control systems, vacuum and cryogenics, computational methods and data analysis algorithms, large-scale detector commission and operation, and dark matter physics and cosmology. The ALPS experiment is designed to search for interactions that turn photons into low-mass particles and vice versa, allowing photons to reemerge behind an otherwise light tight wall. These low-mass particles include axion-like particles, their scalar counterparts, as well as hidden sector photons, and would contribute or even exclusively form the omnipresent dark matter. The ALPS II experiment consists of two 120 m long strings of straightened 5.3 T HERA dipoles on each side of the wall. An optical cavity is used to build up the power to up to 1 MW on one side of the wall while a second cavity amplifies the recreation process on the other side of the wall. In contrast to helioscopes and also haloscopes used also in the search for axion-like particles, ALPS makes no assumptions about stellar evolution; nor does it assume any specific dark matter model. The experiment only depends on proposed fundamental interactions between photons and postulated non-standard-model particles. The ALPS II experiment will surpass past LSW searches by 12 orders of magnitude in regenerated photons and explores a parameter space which has lately been favored by astronomical and other observations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.