ALPS II Science Runs and Upgrades

天文测量表明，宇宙中近85%的物质是未知粒子，确定这种“暗物质”的性质是在粒子物理标准模型之外进行最广泛的新物理探索的基础。任意轻粒子搜索(ALPS)是一种光线穿透墙壁(LSW)实验，它通过搜索光子在墙壁一侧的消失和在另一侧重新出现来探测光子(光)与非标准模型粒子的相互作用。对这种相互作用的观察将有助于发现暗物质的本质。该奖项支持佛罗里达大学的阿尔卑斯II小组对该项目的第一次科学运行进行最终调试和数据分析。该奖项为学生提供多样化的培训机会，让他们在激光和光学、电子学、真空和低温等学科中发展独特的和可转移的技能。阿尔卑斯山II实验位于德国汉堡的DESY实验室，是世界上最灵敏的LSW实验。该装置由两根120米长的5.3特斯拉HERA偶极磁铁组成，它们分别位于防光墙的两边。一个光学腔被用来将墙一侧的功率提高到高达1 mW，而另一个腔被用来放大墙另一侧的光子再创造过程。这个实验装置在灵敏度方面比以前的研究提高了12个数量级以上，这些相互作用将光子转化为低质量粒子，反之亦然。这些潜在的低质量粒子包括类似轴子的粒子、它们的标量对应粒子，以及隐藏的扇区光子，这些光子可能有助于甚至完全形成无所不在的暗物质。Alps II搜索技术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，并探索了最近天文和其他观测所青睐的参数空间。结果是一个很大程度上独立于模型的搜索，没有关于恒星演化的假设，也没有任何特定的暗物质粒子。这一奖项反映了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 measurements indicate that nearly 85% of the matter in the Universe is yet unknown particles and determining the nature of this “dark matter” is the basis for one of the most extensive searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. The Any Light Particle Search (ALPS) is a light shining through wall (LSW) experiment that probes interactions of photons (light) with non-Standard Model particles via a search for the disappearance of photons on one side of a wall and to reemerge on the other. The observation of such an interaction would provide a discovery of the nature of the dark matter. This award supports the ALPS II group at the University of Florida to perform final commissioning and data analysis of the first science runs of the project. The award provides diverse training opportunities for students to develop unique and transferrable skills in disciplines spanning lasers and optics, electronics, vacuum and cryogenics. The ALPS II experiment, located at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg, Germany, is the world’s most sensitive LSW experiment. The apparatus consists of two 120m-long strings of straightened 5.3 Tesla HERA dipole magnets on each side of a light-tight wall. An optical cavity is used to build up the power on one side of the wall to up to 1MW, while a second cavity is used to amplify the photon re-creation process on the other side of the wall. This experimental setup provides a more than 12 order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over previous searches for interactions that turn photons into low-mass particles, and vice versa. These potential low-mass particles include axion-like particles, their scalar counterparts, as well as hidden-sector photons, that may contribute to, or even exclusively form, the omnipresent dark matter. The ALPS II search technique depends only on proposed fundamental interactions between photons and postulated non-standard-model particles and explores a parameter space that has been favored by recent astronomical and other observations. The result is a largely model-independent search with no assumptions about stellar evolution nor any specific dark matter particle.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.