Constraints on the Coupling between Axionlike Dark Matter and Photons Using an Antiproton Superconducting Tuned Detection Circuit in a Cryogenic Penning Trap

TL;DR

This study uses a cryogenic Penning trap with a superconducting circuit to set new constraints on axionlike particles' coupling to photons, surpassing previous laboratory limits in a specific low-mass range.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental method using a superconducting resonant circuit in a cryogenic Penning trap to constrain ALP-photon coupling more tightly than prior lab experiments.

Findings

Constrained ALP-photon coupling to g_{aγ}< 1×10^{-11} GeV^{-1} for masses around 2.79 neV/c^2.

Achieved limits more than an order of magnitude better than previous haloscope experiments.

Set constraints in a mass and coupling range not accessible by astrophysical observations.

Abstract

We constrain the coupling between axionlike particles (ALPs) and photons, measured with the superconducting resonant detection circuit of a cryogenic Penning trap. By searching the noise spectrum of our fixed-frequency resonant circuit for peaks caused by dark matter ALPs converting into photons in the strong magnetic field of the Penning-trap magnet, we are able to constrain the coupling of ALPs with masses around $2.7906-2.7914\,\textrm{neV/c}^2$ to $g_{a\gamma}< 1 \times 10^{-11}\,\textrm{GeV}^{-1}$. This is more than one order of magnitude lower than the best laboratory haloscope and approximately 5 times lower than the CERN axion solar telescope (CAST), setting limits in a mass and coupling range which is not constrained by astrophysical observations. Our approach can be extended to many other Penning-trap experiments and has the potential to provide broad limits in the low ALP mass range.