Speakers
Mr
Gary Centers
(Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet)Mr
Nataniel Figueroa
(Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet)
Description
The Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr), particularly the CASPEr-Wind, is a detection scheme searching for particles with a coupling to nuclear spin; some examples being dark matter candidates like the axion/axion-like particles, hidden photons, or any pseudo-Goldstone boson [1,2,3]. The coupling induces precession of the nuclear spin about the axion momentum which will be detected using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. In this talk, current experimental progress will be presented for the various components involved.
The sample for CASPEr-Wind is hyperpolarized liquid xenon, which preparation of is a critical part of the experiment. We will report on our spin-exchange optical pumping cell, unique in design, for the hyperpolarization of gaseous xenon including it's accompanying diagnostics. The hyperpolarized xenon is condensed in a spherical sapphire cell held at liquid temperature inside of a superconducting magnet within the `variable temperature unit' probe (VTI). This VTI utilizes temperature controlled nitrogen gas and insulation to maintain the $\sim$170 K differential. We will discuss it's design and prototyping, including initial tests of our superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) used to detect the NMR signal induced by the dark matter.
[1] D. Budker et al., Phys. Rev. X 4, 021030 (2014).
[2] P. W. Graham and S. Rajendran, Phys. Rev. D 88, 035023 (2013).
[3] P. W. Graham et al., Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 65, 485–514 (2015).
Primary authors
Mr
Gary Centers
(Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet)
Mr
Nataniel Figueroa
(Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet)
Co-authors
Mr
Antoine Garcon
(Helmholtz Institute)
Dr
Arne Wickenbrock
(Johannes Gutenberg-Universität)
Prof.
Dmitry Budker
(Helmholtz Institut Mainz)
Dr
John Blanchard
(Helmholtz-Institut Mainz)
Marina Gil
(Mrs.)
Mr
Martin Engler
(Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet)
Dr
Matthew Lawson
(Stockholm University)
