High-intensity neutron beams, such as those available at the European Spallation Source (ESS), provide new opportunities for fundamental discoveries. Here, we discuss a novel Ramsey neutron-beam experiment to search for ultralight axion dark matter through its coupling to neutron spins, which would cause the neutron spins to rotate about the velocity of the neutrons relative to the dark matter halo. We estimate that experiments at the HIBEAM beamline with a 50 m free flight path at the ESS can improve the sensitivity to the axion-neutron coupling compared to the current best laboratory limits by up to 2–3 orders of magnitude over the axion mass range . Published by the American Physical Society2024 
                        more » 
                        « less   
                    This content will become publicly available on April 1, 2026
                            
                            Beehive haloscope for high-mass axion dark matter
                        
                    
    
            We propose a new haloscope geometry that can arbitrarily increase the resonator volume for a given target axion mass. This geometry consists of closely packed, overlapping coaxial cavities operating as a single resonator. While the resonant frequency is still determined by the dimensions of the individual “cells,” the strong interactions between the cells encourage the entire “beehive” to oscillate in phase, a phenomenon expected of tightly coupled harmonic oscillators. This synchronization behavior allows the construction of a singly connected large volume resonator at high frequency by simply increasing the number of the cells. Using direct numerical simulations, we verify the existence of a global eigenmode that has a high (40%) form factor in a 169-element beehive resonator. The resonant frequency of the eigenmode is tunable by moving the center rods laterally in unison. The form factor is very tolerant to dimensional deviations and misalignment as a result of mode hybridization due to strong coupling. The beehive haloscope inherits many appealing properties from the conventional coaxial cavity: a high quality factor, compatibility with a solenoid magnet, and ease of fabrication, tuning, and coupling. We argue that this geometry is an excellent candidate for high-mass axion searches covering the post-inflationary parameter space ( ). Published by the American Physical Society2025 
        more » 
        « less   
        
    
                            - Award ID(s):
- 2209576
- PAR ID:
- 10600986
- Publisher / Repository:
- APS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review D
- Volume:
- 111
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 2470-0010
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
- 
            
- 
            Nonrelativistic axions can be efficiently produced in the polar caps of pulsars, resulting in the formation of a dense cloud of gravitationally bound axions. Here, we investigate the interplay between such an axion cloud and the electrodynamics in the pulsar magnetosphere, focusing specifically on the dynamics in the polar caps, where the impact of the axion cloud is expected to be most pronounced. For sufficiently light axions , we show that the axion cloud can occasionally screen the local electric field responsible for particle acceleration and pair production, inducing a periodic nulling of the pulsar’s intrinsic radio emission. At larger axion masses, the small-scale fluctuations in the axion field tend to suppress the backreaction of the axion on the electrodynamics; however, we point out that the incoherent oscillations of the axion in short-lived regions of vacuum near the neutron star surface can produce a narrow radio line, which provides a complementary source of radio emission to the plasma-resonant emission processes identified in previous work. While this Letter focuses on the leading order correction to pair production in the magnetosphere, we speculate that there can exist dramatic deviations in the electrodynamics of these systems when the axion backreaction becomes nonlinear. Published by the American Physical Society2024more » « less
- 
            We propose using highly excited cyclotron states of a trapped electron to detect meV axion and dark-photon dark matter, marking a significant improvement over our previous proposal and demonstration [One-electron quantum cyclotron as a milli-ev dark-photon detector, .]. When the axion mass matches the cyclotron frequency , the cyclotron state is resonantly excited, with a transition probability proportional to its initial quantum number, . The sensitivity is enhanced by taking . By optimizing key experimental parameters, we minimize the required averaging time for cyclotron detection to s, permitting detection of such a highly excited state before its decay. An open–end-cap trap design enables the external photon signal to be directed into the trap, rendering our background-free detector compatible with large focusing cavities, such as the BREAD proposal, while capitalizing on their strong magnetic fields. Furthermore, the axion conversion rate can be coherently enhanced by incorporating layers of dielectrics with alternating refractive indices within the cavity. Collectively, these optimizations enable us to probe the QCD axion parameter space from 0.1 to 2.3 meV (25–560 GHz), covering a substantial portion of the predicted postinflationary QCD axion mass range. This sensitivity corresponds to probing the kinetic mixing parameter of the dark photon down to . Published by the American Physical Society2025more » « less
- 
            We calculate target-material responses for dark matter–electron scattering at the all-electron level using atom-centered Gaussian basis sets. The all-electron effects enhance the material response at high momentum transfers from dark matter to electrons, , compared to calculations using conventional plane wave methods, including those used in ; this enhances the expected event rates at energy transfers , especially when scattering through heavy mediators. We carefully test a range of systematic uncertainties in the theory calculation, including those arising from the choice of basis set, exchange-correlation functional, number of unit cells in the Bloch sum, -mesh, and neglect of scatters with very high momentum transfers. We provide state-of-the-art crystal form factors, focusing on silicon and germanium. Our code and results are made publicly available as a new tool, called (“”). Published by the American Physical Society2024more » « less
- 
            The nuclear two-photon or double-gamma ( ) decay is a second-order electromagnetic process whereby a nucleus in an excited state emits two gamma rays simultaneously. To be able to directly measure the decay rate in the low-energy regime below the electron-positron pair-creation threshold, we combined the isochronous mode of a storage ring with Schottky resonant cavities. The newly developed technique can be applied to isomers with excitation energies down to and half-lives as short as . The half-life for the decay of the first-excited state in bare ions was determined to be 23.9(6) ms, which strongly deviates from expectations. Published by the American Physical Society2024more » « less
 An official website of the United States government
An official website of the United States government 
				
			 
					 
					
