skip to main content

Explore Research Products in the NSF-PAR

Title: Constraints on bosonic dark matter from ultralow-field nuclear magnetic resonance
The nature of dark matter, the invisible substance making up over 80% of the matter in the universe, is one of the most fundamental mysteries of modern physics. Ultralight bosons such as axions, axion-like particles, or dark photons could make up most of the dark matter. Couplings between such bosons and nuclear spins may enable their direct detection via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy: As nuclear spins move through the galactic dark-matter halo, they couple to dark matter and behave as if they were in an oscillating magnetic field, generating a dark-matter–driven NMR signal. As part of the cosmic axion spin precession experiment (CASPEr), an NMR-based dark-matter search, we use ultralow-field NMR to probe the axion-fermion “wind” coupling and dark-photon couplings to nuclear spins. No dark matter signal was detected above background, establishing new experimental bounds for dark matter bosons with masses ranging from 1.8 × 10 −16 to 7.8 × 10 −14 eV.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1707875
NSF-PAR ID:
10143051
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Science Advances
Volume:
5
Issue:
10
ISSN:
2375-2548
Page Range / eLocation ID:
eaax4539
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al ( , Quantum Science and Technology)
    Abstract

    The QCD axion is a particle postulated to exist since the 1970s to explain the strong-CP problem in particle physics. It could also account for all of the observed dark matter in the Universe. The axion resonant interaction detection experiment (ARIADNE) intends to detect the QCD axion by sensing the fictitious ‘magnetic field’ created by its coupling to spin. Short-range axion-mediated interactions can occur between a sample of laser-polarized3He nuclear spins and an unpolarized source-mass sprocket. The experiment must be sensitive to magnetic fields below the 10−19T level to achieve its design sensitivity, necessitating tight control of the experiment’s magnetic environment. We describe a method for controlling three aspects of that environment which would otherwise limit the experimental sensitivity. Firstly, a system of superconducting magnetic shielding is described to screen ordinary magnetic noise from the sample volume at the 108level, which should be sufficient to reduce the contribution of Johnson noise in the sprocket-shaped source mass, expected to be at the 10−12T/Hzlevel, to below the threshold for signal detection. Secondly, a method for reducing magnetic field gradients within the sample up to 102times is described, using a simple and cost-effective design geometry. Thirdly, a novel coil design is introduced which allows the generation of fields similar to those produced by Helmholtz coils in regions directly abutting superconducting boundaries. This method allows the nuclear Larmor frequency of the sample to be tuned to match the axion field modulation frequency set by the sprocket rotation. Finally, we experimentally investigate the magnetic shielding factor of sputtered thin-film superconducting niobium on quartz substrates for various geometries and film thicknesses relevant for the ARIADNE axion experiment using SQUID magnetometry. The methods may be generally useful for magnetic field control near superconducting boundaries in other experiments where similar considerations apply.

     
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al ( , Springer proceedings in physics)
    Carosi, G. ; Rybka, G. (Ed.)
    An overview of our experimental program to search for axion and axion-like-particle (ALP) dark matter using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques is presented. An oscillating axion field can exert a time-varying torque on nuclear spins either directly or via generation of an oscillating nuclear electric dipole moment (EDM). Magnetic resonance techniques can be used to detect such an effect. The first-generation experiments explore many decades of ALP parameter space beyond the current astrophysical and laboratory bounds. It is anticipated that future versions of the experiments will be sensitive to the axions associated with quantum chromodynamics (QCD) having masses <10^(−9) eV/c^2. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; ; ( , Annalen der Physik)
    Abstract

    Galactic dark matter may consist of axionlike particles (ALPs) that can be described as an “ultralight bosonic field” oscillating at the ALP Compton frequency. The ALP field can be searched for using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), where resonant precession of spins of a polarized sample can be sensitively detected. The ALP mass to which the experiment is sensitive is scanned by sweeping the bias magnetic field. The scanning either results in detection of ALP dark matter or rules out ALP dark matter with sufficiently strong couplings to nuclear spins over the range of ALP masses corresponding to the covered span of Larmor frequencies. In this work, scanning strategies are analyzed with the goal of optimizing the parameter‐space coverage via a proper choice of experimental parameters (e.g., the effective transverse relaxation time).

     
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ( , Annalen der Physik)
    Abstract

    Calibration of nuclear‐magnetic‐resonance‐based searches for axion‐like dark matter can be performed by free induction decay (FID) measurements. This manu‐ script describes FID experiments on several solid materials, motivated by the Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr) program. Experiments with207Pb nuclear spins in ferroelectrics, lead magnesium niobate‐lead titanate (PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3) (PbTiO3)1/3(PMN‐PT) and lead zirconium titante PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3(PZT) are directly relevant to the CASPEr‐electric search for the electric dipole moment interaction of axion‐like dark matter. Experiments with31P nuclear spins in gadolinium‐doped hydroxypyromorphite Pb4.95Gd0.05(PO4)3OH (HPM:Gd) are used for apparatus calibration. The measurements characterized the nuclear spin ensemble coherence time and the magnetic resonance detection sensitivity for these samples. Calibration is performed using small tip‐angle pulses.

     
    more » « less
  5. ; ( , The European Physical Journal C)
    Abstract

    This paper proposes an alternative mechanism to solve the so-called missing pulsar problem, a standing paradox between the theoretical expectations about the number of pulsars that should exist in the galaxy center of the Milky Way and their absence in the observations. The mechanism is based on the transformation of incident$$\gamma $$γrays into hybridized modes, known as axion-polaritons, which can exist inside highly magnetized quark stars with a quark matter phase known as the magnetic dual chiral density wave phase. This phase, which is favored over several other dense matter phases candidates at densities a few times nuclear saturation density, has already passed several important astrophysical tests. In the proposed mechanism, the absence of young magnetars occurs because as electromagnetic waves inside the star can only propagate through the hybridized modes, incident photons coming from a$$\gamma $$γ-ray burst get transformed into massless and massive axion polaritons by the Primakoff effect. Once thermalized, the massive axion-polaritons can self-gravitate up to a situation where their total mass overpasses the Chandrasekhar limit for these bosons, producing a mini blackhole that collapses the star.

     
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email