Speakers
Dr
John Blanchard
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Marina Gil
(Mrs.)
Description
The Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr) is a multi-faceted research program using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to search for dark-matter-driven spin-precession.
CASPEr is naturally divided into two main research directions, based on two possible couplings to the Standard Model.
- CASPEr-Wind searches for spin precession induced by the coupling between ultralight bosons and the axial nuclear current (the so-called ``axion wind'' coupling). The interaction that drives the spin precession may be treated as a pseudo-magnetic field where the nuclear spin couples to the relative momentum of the local dark matter field.
- The coupling of axions to the gluon field of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is explored by CASPEr-Electric, which searches for the effect of an oscillating nuclear electric dipole moment. In the presence of an electric field, this electric dipole moment generates a toque that drives spin precession.
The combined experiment searches for dark matter composed of axions, axion-like particles, or dark/hidden photons with boson masses from $\sim 6\times 10^{-17}$ to $\sim 6\times 10^{-7}$ eV. We will report on the current status and describe recent progress in the construction of the assorted CASPEr apparatus.
Primary author
Dr
John Blanchard
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Co-authors
Prof.
Alexander O. Sushkov
(Boston University)
Mr
Antoine Garcon
(Helmholtz Institute)
Dr
Arne Wickenbrock
(Johannes Gutenberg-Universität)
Prof.
Derek F. Jackson Kimball
(California State University East Bay)
Prof.
Dmitry Budker
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Mr
Gary Centers
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Marina Gil
(Mrs.)
Mr
Martin Engler
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Dr
Matthew Lawson
(University of Stockholm)
Mr
Nataniel Figueroa
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Prof.
Peter W. Graham
(Stanford University)
Surjeet Rajendran
(UC Berkeley)
Dr
Teng Wu
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Dr
Yevgeny Stadnik
(Mainz)
