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arXiv · 2204.01454

New Limit on Axion-Like Dark Matter using Cold Neutrons

Ivo Schulthess·Estelle Chanel·Anastasio Fratangelo·Alexander Gottstein·Andreas Gsponer·Zachary Hodge·Ciro Pistillo·Dieter Ries·Torsten Soldner·Jacob Thorne·Florian M. Piegsa
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Abstract

We report on a search for dark matter axion-like particles (ALPs) using a Ramsey-type apparatus for cold neutrons. A hypothetical ALP-gluon-coupling would manifest in a neutron electric dipole moment signal oscillating in time. Twenty-four hours of data have been analyzed in a frequency range from 23 $\mu$Hz to 1 kHz, and no significant oscillating signal has been found. The usage of present dark-matter models allows to constrain the coupling of ALPs to gluons in the mass range from $10^{-19}$ to $4 \times 10^{-12}$ eV. The best limit of $C_G$/$f_a m_a = 2.7 \times 10^{13}$ GeV$^{-2}$ (95\% C.L.) is reached in the mass range from $2 \times 10^{-17}$ to $2 \times 10^{-14}$ eV.

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Ivo Schulthess, Estelle Chanel, Anastasio Fratangelo, Alexander Gottstein, Andreas Gsponer, Zachary Hodge, Ciro Pistillo, Dieter Ries, Torsten Soldner, Jacob Thorne, Florian M. Piegsa. 2022-04-04. New Limit on Axion-Like Dark Matter using Cold Neutrons. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.129.191801

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