Searching for axions with FPGA-generated resonances

Abstract: 

The axion's unique ability to resolve both the dark matter question and the Strong CP problem has spurred the development of a variety of experimental searches, the majority of which are known as haloscopes. A haloscope leverages the axion-photon conversion in a magnetic field. By-and-large, the haloscope has been the most successful approach so far, with the resonant haloscope, ADMX, capable of probing the most plausible axion model (DFSZ). Nevertheless, a limiting factor of the resonant haloscope is its ability to tune over a narrow range of the axion parameter space. In this talk, I discuss a new idea to cover a wider range of the axion parameter space using resonant feedback induced in a cavity via a filter on an FPGA-board. The FPGA-board enables the experimentalist to reconfigure the resonance at different frequencies and potentially make use of a variety of electromagnetic structures to perform an axion search.

Speaker : 

Chelsea Bartram

Location: 

CENPA Conference Room NPL-178

Material: