Design and Calibration of the 34 GHz Yale Microwave Cavity Experiment

TL;DR

This paper details the design, calibration, and performance of a 34 GHz microwave cavity experiment aimed at detecting light dark matter particles like axions or hidden photons through their interactions with photons.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup at 34 GHz with specific configurations to enhance sensitivity for detecting axion-like particles and hidden sector photons.

Findings

The experiment successfully characterized the cavity and receiver performance.

Different configurations impact the sensitivity to dark matter particles.

The setup provides a new approach for high-frequency dark matter searches.

Abstract

Several proposed models of the cold dark matter in the universe include light neutral bosons with sub-eV masses. In many cases their detection hinges on their infrequent interactions with Standard Model photons at sub-eV energies. We describe the design and performance of an experiment to search for aberrations from the broadband noise power associated with a 5 K copper resonant cavity in the vicinity of 34 GHz (0.1 meV). The cavity, microwave receiver, and data reduction are described. Several configurations of the experiment are discussed in terms of their impact on the sensitivity of the search for axion-like particles and hidden sector photons.