Projected Sensitivity of DMRadio-m\(^3\): A Search for the QCD Axion Below \(1\,\mu\)eV

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Collaboration, DMRadio, Brouwer, L, Chaudhuri, S, H -M Cho, Corbin, J, Craddock, W, Dawson, C S, Droster, A, Foster, J W, Fry, J T, Graham, P W, Henning, R, Irwin, K D, Kadribasic, F, Kahn, Y, Keller, A, Kolevatov, R, Kuenstner, S, Leder, A F, D Li, Ouellet, J L, Pappas, K, Phipps, A, Rapidis, N M, Safdi, B R, Salemi, C P, Simanovskaia, M, Singh, J, van Assendelft, E C, K van Bibber, Wells, K, Winslow, L, Wisniewski, W J, Young, B A
• Format: Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 08.12.2022
• Subjects: Dark matter; Maxwell's equations; Searching; Sensitivity
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2204.13781

The QCD axion is one of the most compelling candidates to explain the dark matter abundance of the universe. With its extremely small mass (\(\ll 1\,\mathrm{eV}/c^2\)), axion dark matter interacts as a classical field rather than a particle. Its coupling to photons leads to a modification of Maxwell's equations that can be measured with extremely sensitive readout circuits. DMRadio-m\(^3\) is a next-generation search for axion dark matter below \(1\,\mu\)eV using a \(>4\) T static magnetic field, a coaxial inductive pickup, a tunable LC resonator, and a DC-SQUID readout. It is designed to search for QCD axion dark matter over the range \(20\,\mathrm{neV}\lesssim m_ac^2\lesssim 800\,\mathrm{neV}\) (\(5\,\mathrm{MHz}<\nu<200\,\mathrm{MHz}\)). The primary science goal aims to achieve DFSZ sensitivity above \(m_ac^2\approx 120\) neV (30 MHz), with a secondary science goal of probing KSVZ axions down to \(m_ac^2\approx40\,\mathrm{neV}\) (10 MHz).