Speaker
Description
The search for high-frequency gravitational waves opens a complementary observational window on the early Universe and on compact objects far below the mass range accessible to kilometre-scale interferometers. We present the Multi-mode Acoustic Gravitational-wave Experiment (MAGE) [1], a cryogenic resonant-mass detector based on ultra-high-Q quartz bulk acoustic wave resonators with SQUID readout [2,3]. MAGE operates two near-identical detectors simultaneously, with multiple overtone modes monitored in parallel, enabling sensitivity in several narrow bands in the MHz regime while providing strong rejection of local backgrounds through coincidence analysis [1-4]. We summarise the detector concept, calibration strategy, and matched-filter analysis used to search for short-duration impulsive signals that excite the acoustic modes [4]. Recent observing runs have demonstrated stable multimode operation and placed new constraints on transient signals in the 5–15 MHz region, including limits on planetary-mass primordial black hole mergers [4].
MAGE also forms part of Australia’s contribution to the emerging international GravNET effort, providing a Southern Hemisphere platform for correlated searches for ultra-high-frequency gravitational waves and other wave-like signals from new physics. In this broader context, MAGE is complemented by the Australian ORGAN and ORGAN-Q infrastructure, which has demonstrated near-quantum-limited microwave detection, rapid-response capability for targeted searches for axion and dark-photon dark matter, and complementary sensitivity to high-frequency gravitational-wave signals [5–7]. As a quantum-enabled cryogenic resonator platform with precision timing, low-noise readout, and coincidence capability, ORGAN-Q can also participate as a node within the GravNET network, extending Australia’s capacity for distributed searches for correlated transient and persistent signals. Together, MAGE and ORGAN-Q show how compact Australian experiments can probe otherwise unexplored frequency bands while contributing to a global quantum sensor network. These efforts position Australia as an important Southern Hemisphere node in GravNET, strengthening international searches for high-frequency gravitational waves and other signatures of new physics.
References
[1] W. Campbell, M. Goryachev, and M. E. Tobar, “The Multi-mode Acoustic Gravitational Wave Experiment: MAGE,” Sci. Rep. 13, 10638 (2023).
[2] M. Goryachev and M. E. Tobar, “Gravitational wave detection with high frequency phonon trapping acoustic cavities,” Phys. Rev. D 90, 102005 (2014); Erratum Phys. Rev. D 108, 129901 (2023).
[3] M. Goryachev, W. M. Campbell, I. S. Heng, S. Galliou, E. N. Ivanov, and M. E. Tobar, “Rare events detected with a bulk acoustic wave high frequency gravitational wave antenna,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 071102 (2021).
[4] WM Campbell, L Mariani, ME Tobar, M Goryachev, Experimental Exclusion of Planetary Mass Primordial Black Hole Mergers, Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 135, 251402, 2025.
[5] M. E. Tobar, C. A. Thomson, W. M. Campbell, A. Quiskamp, J. F. Bourhill, B. T. McAllister, E. N. Ivanov, and M. Goryachev, “Comparing Instrument Spectral Sensitivity of Dissimilar Electromagnetic Haloscopes to Axion Dark Matter and High Frequency Gravitational Waves,” Symmetry 14(10), 2165 (2022).
[6] A. P. Quiskamp, G. R. Flower, S. Samuels, B. T. McAllister, P. Altin, E. N. Ivanov, M. Goryachev, and M. E. Tobar, “Near-quantum-limited axion dark matter search with the ORGAN experiment around 26 μeV,” Phys. Rev. D 111, 095007 (2025).
[7] A. P. Quiskamp, G. R. Flower, M. Goryachev, M. E. Tobar, and B. T. McAllister, “Follow-up Search for a Tentative Dark Photon Signal Near 19.5 μeV using ORGAN-Q infrastructure,” Phys. Rev. D 113, 012007 (2026).
| Parallel session | New Physics Searches: Dark Matter and High-Frequency Gravitational Waves |
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