The axion is a hypothetical elementary particle proposed to explain the absence of an electrical dipole moment for the neutron. The axion has no electric charge, no spin, and interacts with ordinary matter (electrons, photons, quarks, etc.) only very weakly. Even though the axion — if it exists — should have only a tiny mass, axions would have been produced abundantly in the Big Bang, and relic axions are an excellent candidate for the dark matter in the universe. Axions are a leading candidate.
The High Energy Physics group at LLNL co-leads one of the few experiments which can challenge current theoretical limits on the axion mass and coupling. The experiment consists of a high-Q tunable microwave cavity inside a large superconducting magnet about 1 meter long with a bore diameter of 60 cm. A DOE/SC funded upgraded is well underway which replaces the extremely sensitive HEMT amplifier with an even quieter SQUID amplifies.
- Darin Kinion
- Leslie Rosenberg
Active Members from the HEP Group
- Karl van Bibber, Chief Scientist, LLNL
- Chris Hagmann, LLNL
- Steve Asztalos, LLNL