Speaker
Description
The nature of dark matter is one of the most perplexing open questions in physics today. A particularly compelling dark matter candidate called the QCD axion, if discovered, could simultaneously solve the Strong CP Problem of quantum chromodynamics and account for the missing mass in our universe. The "axion haloscope" is an established detection technique, designed to resonantly convert µeV axions into detectable microwave photons in a tunable, high-Q, resonant cavity permeated by a strong static magnetic field. These detectors, used by collaborations like the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX), HAYSTAC, CAPP, and ORGAN, are well suited for the 0.5–10 GHz frequency range. However, future detectors designed to leverage these traditional haloscope techniques to search the rest of this frequency range will face significant challenges. The loss in sensitivity, due to decreased detector volume and the increase in quantum noise, will conspire to make axion detection near-impossible without compatible strategies to both boost signal and reduce noise at these higher frequencies. Furthermore, proposed solutions such as multi-cavity or quantum sensing approaches improve detector sensitivity at the cost of increased complexity; this complexity that may not be tractable without advanced automated detector controls at high frequencies. Our research takes a broad view to treat both detector compatibility and complexity problems as a single entangled challenge, aiming to address both with the help of a new two-cavity R&D platform. This pathfinder, the ADMX-SIDETRAC, will be built to set new limits in the 5.8-6 GHz range. The platform will also provide a training ground where promising techniques can be stress tested together in realistic data-taking conditions and synthesized for broad use in HEP. In this talk, I will motivate this pathfinder, give a status update on construction, and seek CPAD community involvement.
