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nuclear seminar

New detection techniques for axion dark matter

The axion is one of the best motivated dark matter candidates, simultaneously solving the Strong CP problem as well as providing the dark matter of the universe. However, in comparison to WIMPs the axion was historically neglected by experimental efforts. This has been changing in the last five years, which a bevy of new experiment proposals and results. I outline several recent updates for new detection ideas, including plasma haloscopes and axion detection with phonon-polaritons.

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The Project 8 Neutrino Mass Experiment

Although the existence of neutrino mass is firmly established, the precise neutrino mass scale remains unknown.  To directly probe this property, measurements of the endpoint of the tritium beta spectrum have achieved the greatest sensitivity, recently reaching the sub-eV scale.  In this talk, I will present Project 8, an experimental concept based on the novel Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES) technique.  Project 8 has recently released its first measurements of the tritium beta spectral endpoint and demonstrated its high precision spectroscopy using krypton calibration.  An R&D campaign is now underway to demonstrate scalability of the CRES technique and to develop the atomic tritium source required.  Building on these successes, a next-generation experiment is envisioned with neutrino mass sensitivity down to 40 meV.

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