Laboratory Constraints on the Neutron-Spin Coupling of feV-scale Axions

Abstract

Ultralight axion-like particles can contribute to the dark matter near the Sun, leading to a distinct, stochastic signature in terrestrial experiments. We search for such particles through their neutron-spin coupling by re-analyzing approximately 40 days of data from a K-${}^3$He co-magnetometer with a new frequency-domain likelihood-based formalism that properly accounts for stochastic effects over all axion coherence times relative to the experimental time span. Assuming that axions make up all of the dark matter in the Sun's vicinity, we find a median 95% upper limit on the neutron-spin coupling of $2.4\times 10^{-10}$ GeV${}^{-1}$ for axion masses from 0.4 to 4 feV, which is about five orders of magnitude more stringent than previous laboratory bounds in that mass range. Although several peaks in the experiment's magnetic power spectrum suggest the rejection of a white-noise null hypothesis, further analysis of their lineshapes yields no positive evidence for a dark matter axion.

arXiv comment25 pages, 15 figures

References in corpus (42)

• Asymptotic formulae for likelihood-based tests of new physics
• A direct empirical proof of the existence of dark matter
• String Axiverse
• Axions In String Theory
• Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Sky Maps, Systematic Errors, and Basic Results
• Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-Square Law below the Dark-Energy Length Scale
• A novel determination of the local dark matter density
• Supernova 1987A Constraints on Sub-GeV Dark Sectors, Millicharged Particles, the QCD Axion, and an Axion-like Particle
• Extended Search for the Invisible Axion with the Axion Dark Matter Experiment
• Sub-millimeter Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-square Law
• The Milky Way's circular velocity curve between 4 and 14 kpc from APOGEE data
• The Circular Velocity Curve of the Milky Way from $5$ to $25$ kpc
• Particle Physics Implications of a Recent Test of the Gravitational Inverse Square Law
• The Extended Rotation Curve and the Dark Matter Halo of M33
• Invisible Axion Search Methods
• Results from phase 1 of the HAYSTAC microwave cavity axion experiment
• The ORGAN Experiment: An axion haloscope above 15 GHz
• Limits on new long range nuclear spin-dependent forces set with a K-3He co-magnetometer
• Improved axion emissivity from a supernova via nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung
• Revealing the Dark Matter Halo with Axion Direct Detection
• First Results from Axion Haloscope at CAPP around 10.7 $\mu$eV
• Search for axion-like dark matter through nuclear spin precession in electric and magnetic fields
• Search for axion-like dark matter with spin-based amplifiers
• Is there a supernova bound on axions?
• The search for low-mass axion dark matter with ABRACADABRA-10cm
• Discovery of a Ringlike Dark Matter Structure in the Core of the Galaxy Cluster Cl 0024+17
• Search for axionlike dark matter with a liquid-state nuclear spin comagnetometer
• Search for axion-like dark matter with ferromagnets
• Stochastic fluctuations of bosonic dark matter
• Detecting dark matter waves with precision measurement tools
• Constraints on bosonic dark matter from ultralow-field nuclear magnetic resonance
• Upper Limit on the QCD Axion Mass from Isolated Neutron Star Cooling
• Constraints on Axion-like Particles and Nucleon Pairing in Dense Matter from the Hot Neutron Star in HESS J1731-347
• The local dark matter phase-space density and impact on WIMP direct detection
• Axion Dark Matter eXperiment: Run 1B Analysis Details
• NASDUCK: New Constraints on Axion-like Dark Matter from Floquet Quantum Detector
• Axion-like Relics: New Constraints from Old Comagnetometer Data
• The Earth's velocity for direct detection experiments
• Stellar Evolution confronts Axion Models
• Spectral signatures of axionlike dark matter
• Comparative study of nuclear effects in polarized electron scattering from 3He
• Stochastic Properties of Ultralight Scalar Field Gradients

Cited by in corpus (24)

• Constraints on axion-like dark matter from a SERF comagnetometer
• Search for ultralight dark matter with spectroscopy of radio-frequency atomic transitions
• Spin-dependent exotic interactions
• Dark Matter Search with a Resonantly-Coupled Hybrid Spin System
• On the Sensitivity of Spin-Precession Axion Experiments
• Probing an ultralight QCD axion with electromagnetic quadratic interaction
• Axion wind detection with the homogeneous precession domain of superfluid helium-3
• Slaying Axion-Like Particles via Gravitational Waves and Primordial Black Holes from Supercooled Phase Transition
• Ultralight dark matter detection with levitated ferromagnets
• Searches for exotic spin-dependent interactions with spin sensors
• Inter-species spin-noise correlations in hot atomic vapors
• New Technologies for Axion and Dark Photon Searches
• Additive Manufacturing of functionalised atomic vapour cells for next-generation quantum technologies
• The HIBEAM Instrument at the European Spallation Source
• A Ramsey Neutron-Beam Experiment to Search for Ultralight Axion Dark Matter at the ESS
• Pulsed Dual-axis Alkali-metal-noble-gas Comagnetometer
• Bias-Free Estimation of Signals on Top of Unknown Backgrounds
• An atomic probe of dark matter differential interactions with elementary particles
• Search for Axionlike Dark Matter Using Liquid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
• The statistics and sensitivity of axion wind detection with the homogeneous precession domain of superfluid helium-3
• Axion detection via superfluid ${}^3$He ferromagnetic phase and quantum measurement techniques
• Ytterbium atom interferometry for dark matter searches
• Axion-Like Particle Detection in Alkali-Noble-Gas Haloscopes
• Flavor-changing axions and Dirac neutrino masses