Collaborative Research: Axion Resonant InterAction DetectioN Experiment (ARIADNE) - a continuation proposal

About This Grant

Most of the matter in our universe is hidden from our view. We can’t see it directly, but we know it’s there because of the way it pulls on the things we can see, like stars and planets. One possible type of this invisible matter is called the axion. Scientists first suggested the existence of axions in the 1970s to help explain a major mystery in particle physics: why neutrons have a very small electric dipole moment. If we can find axions or similar particles, it could help answer some of the biggest questions in physics. In physics laboratories, axions might create new types of forces between atomic nuclei that can be measured at very small distances. The Axion Resonant InterAction DetectioN Experiment, known as ARIADNE, uses a technique called nuclear magnetic resonance to detect these forces. In this experiment, a mass is placed near a detector made of helium-3 atoms. This causes the detector’s magnetic properties to change, allowing scientists to see the axions moving between the mass and the helium-3. The ARIADNE project aims to complete the setup of the experiment and start collecting data. As part of this research, a team made up of postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students will receive training in important areas like precision measurement, low-temperature physics, micro-fabrication, vacuum technology, and data analysis. This experience will help prepare them for future careers in science. The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion could explain the lack of Charge-Parity (CP) violation in the strong interactions, while constituting all or part of the Dark matter in the universe, thus making it an “economical” solution to some of the greatest puzzles in cosmology and high energy physics. While much focus in the community has been on cosmic axion searches, axions can also generate novel spin-dependent short-range forces in tabletop experiments. The Axion Resonant InterAction Detection Experiment (ARIADNE) searches for the QCD axion using a technique based on nuclear magnetic resonance. The aim is to detect axion-mediated short-range interactions between laser-polarized 3He nuclei and an unpolarized tungsten source mass. To look for this feeble effective magnetic field, ordinary magnetic field backgrounds must be characterized and appropriately shielded. The experiment has the potential to probe deep within the theoretically interesting regime for the QCD axion in the mass range of 10 micro-eV to 10 milli-eV. The goals of this project are to complete commissioning of the apparatus, establish the data analysis pipeline needed for the experiment, and produce a preliminary limit on axion-mediated forces. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.