Summary
The nature of the dark matter, making up most of the mass of the universe remains a mystery. The G-LEAD project aims at building an original experiment to test one of the favorite hypotheses for what dark matter could be : axions. Axions have been hypothesized in the late seventies and have been extensively searched for ever since. They elegantly solve the strong CP problem of the Standard Model and constitute a natural candidate for dark matter. Axions are expected to be very light particles and they would mix with photons in an external magnetic field. If dark matter is made of axions, a metal/air interface in a magnetic field would emit GHz radio waves. I hereby propose to build the first experiment aimed at producing and detecting this axion-induced interface radiation. As opposed to all other experiments, the G-LEAD experiment is designed to be broadband, and its setup is based on a simple and robust design. It will likely constitute the world-leading experiment in terms of sensitivity in its mass range during the course of the project. Beyond the publication of candidate signals or exclusion limits on axion parameters, prototypes will be built in order to make a proposal for a large-scale broadband experiment. The project relies on a pathfinder experiment conducted at CEA Saclay and will benefit from existing local installations. Planned realizations include a new spherical cap, a large aperture 3 T magnet, modules of magnetized interfaces, new antennas and radiometers. Two postdoctoral fellows and a PhD student will be hired. An outreach and specialized workshop program is also proposed.
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| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/865306 |
| Start date: | 01-09-2020 |
| End date: | 31-08-2026 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 2 112 093,00 Euro - 2 112 093,00 Euro |
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Original description
The nature of the dark matter, making up most of the mass of the universe remains a mystery. The G-LEAD project aims at building an original experiment to test one of the favorite hypotheses for what dark matter could be : axions. Axions have been hypothesized in the late seventies and have been extensively searched for ever since. They elegantly solve the strong CP problem of the Standard Model and constitute a natural candidate for dark matter. Axions are expected to be very light particles and they would mix with photons in an external magnetic field. If dark matter is made of axions, a metal/air interface in a magnetic field would emit GHz radio waves. I hereby propose to build the first experiment aimed at producing and detecting this axion-induced interface radiation. As opposed to all other experiments, the G-LEAD experiment is designed to be broadband, and its setup is based on a simple and robust design. It will likely constitute the world-leading experiment in terms of sensitivity in its mass range during the course of the project. Beyond the publication of candidate signals or exclusion limits on axion parameters, prototypes will be built in order to make a proposal for a large-scale broadband experiment. The project relies on a pathfinder experiment conducted at CEA Saclay and will benefit from existing local installations. Planned realizations include a new spherical cap, a large aperture 3 T magnet, modules of magnetized interfaces, new antennas and radiometers. Two postdoctoral fellows and a PhD student will be hired. An outreach and specialized workshop program is also proposed.Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2019-COGUpdate Date
27-04-2024
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