First Results from ABRACADABRA-10cm: A Search for Sub-μeV Axion Dark Matter.

Jonathan L Ouellet,Nicholas L Rodd,Jesse Thaler,Daniel Winklehner,Yonatan Kahn,Joe Minervini,Joseph A Formaggio,Janet M Conrad,Benjamin R Safdi,Alexey Radovinsky,Lindley Winslow,Reyco Henning,Chiara P Salemi,Joshua W Foster,Zachary Bogorad

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.122.121802

Abstract

The axion is a promising dark matter candidate, which was originally proposed to solve the strong-CP problem in particle physics. To date, the available parameter space for axion and axionlike particle dark matter is relatively unexplored, particularly at masses m_{a}≲1 μeV. ABRACADABRA is a new experimental program to search for axion dark matter over a broad range of masses, 10^{-12}≲m_{a}≲10^{-6} eV. ABRACADABRA-10cm is a small-scale prototype for a future detector that could be sensitive to the QCD axion. In this Letter, we present the first results from a 1month search for axions with ABRACADABRA-10cm. We find no evidence for axionlike cosmic dark matter and set 95%C.L. upper limits on the axion-photon coupling between g_{aγγ}<1.4×10^{-10} and g_{aγγ}<3.3×10^{-9} GeV^{-1} over the mass range 3.1×10^{-10}-8.3×10^{-9} eV. These results are competitive with the most stringent astrophysical constraints in this mass range.

Highlights

In this Letter, we present the first results from a 1 month search for axions with ABRACADABRA-10 cm
In this Letter, we present first results from ABRACADABRA-10 cm, probing the axion-photon coupling gaγγ for Axion DM (ADM) in the frequency range f ∈ 1⁄275 kHz; 2 MHz, corresponding to axion masses ma ∈1⁄23.1×10−10; 8.3×10−9 eV
We had to exclude a few specific mass points from our discovery analysis due to narrow background lines that were observed when the magnet was off. To veto these mass points as potential discoveries, we analyze data collected while the magnet was off using the same analysis framework. If in this analysis we find a mass point with lookelsewhere effect (LEE)-corrected significance greater than 5σ, we exclude that mass point from our axion discovery analysis

Summary

Introduction

In this Letter, we present first results from ABRACADABRA-10 cm, probing the axion-photon coupling gaγγ for ADM in the frequency range f ∈ 1⁄275 kHz; 2 MHz, corresponding to axion masses ma ∈1⁄23.1×10−10; 8.3×10−9 eV. Our result represents the most sensitive laboratory search for ADM below 1 μeV, is competitive with leading astrophysical constraints from CAST [37], and probes a region where low-mass ALPs, which can accommodate all the DM of the universe without overclosure [38,39,40,41,42], as well as particular models of QCD axions with enhanced photon couplings [43,44].

Results

Conclusion