First limits on axion dark matter from a DALI prototype

Abstract

We report a pilot dark matter search with a cryogenic, magnetized, scaled-down DALI prototype. An analysis of 36 hours of data reveals no statistically significant excess attributable to axionlike particles. We therefore set new exclusion limits in the 6.88691--6.91792 GHz band, reaching an axion-photon coupling sensitivity of $g_{a\gamma \gamma }\lesssim 9.7\times 10^{-12}{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$ at $28.54\mu \mathrm{eV}$. These results consolidate the DALI approach and motivate a next-stage haloscope to explore a broader mass range with upgraded instrumentation.

7 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables