New Directions for ALP Searches Combining Nuclear Reactors and Haloscopes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel experimental setup called reactoscope that combines nuclear reactors and haloscope technology to search for axion-like particles, offering a new laboratory approach that complements existing methods.

Contribution

The paper proposes the reactoscope setup, integrating nuclear reactors with haloscope experiments for ALP detection, and provides sensitivity projections for such combined searches.

Findings

Sensitivity projections for ALP detection at ILL and GrAHal.

Complementary reach beyond existing laboratory experiments.

Analysis free from astrophysical assumptions.

Abstract

In this work we propose reactoscope, a novel experimental setup for axion-like particle (ALP) searches. Nuclear reactors produce a copious number of photons, a fraction of which could convert into ALPs via Primakoff process in the reactor core. The generated flux of ALPs leaves the nuclear power plant and its passage through a region with a strong magnetic field results in the efficient conversion to photons which can be detected. Such magnetic field is the key component of axion haloscope experiments. Adjacent nuclear reactor and axion haloscope experiment exist in Grenoble, France. There, the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) research reactor is situated only $\sim 700$ m from GrAHal, the axion haloscope platform designed to offer several volume and magnetic field (up to 43 T) configurations. We derive sensitivity projections for photophilic ALP searches with ILL and GrAHal, and also scrutinize analogous realizations, such as the one comprising of CAST experiment at CERN and Bugey nuclear power plant. The results that we obtain complement and extend the reach of existing laboratory experiments, e.g. light-shining-through-walls. While the derived sensitivities are not competitive when compared to the astrophysical limits, our analysis is free from the assumptions associated to those.