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arXiv · 2506.11589

Search for post-inflationary QCD axions with a quantum-limited tunable microwave receiver

Abstract

A search for cosmological axions has been performed by scanning a frequency region of $38\,$MHz centered at about $10.2\,$GHz, corresponding to an axion mass $m_a \simeq 42\,\mu$eV. The QUAX experimental apparatus, a haloscope comprised of a 1-liter volume tunable cavity immersed in an $8\,$T magnetic field and a quantum-limited detection chain, set limits on the axion-photon coupling at the $10^{-14}\,$GeV$^{-1}$ level. As no signal candidate has been observed, viable hadronic axion models are ruled out in a currently preferred post-inflationary region $m_a > 40\,\mu$eV.

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Giosuè Sardo Infirri, David Alesini, Caterina Braggio, Giulio Cappelli, Giovanni Carugno, Domenico D'Agostino, Alessandro D'Elia, Daniele Di Gioacchino, Raffaele Di Vora, Martina Esposito, Paolo Falferi, Umberto Gambardella, Antonios Gardikiotis, Claudio Gatti, Carlo Ligi, Giordano Lilli, Augusto Lombardi, Giovanni Maccarrone, Dora Maiello, Antonello Ortolan, Arpit Ranadive, Alessio Rettaroli, Nicolas Roch, Simone Tocci, Giuseppe Ruoso. 2025-06-13. Search for post-inflationary QCD axions with a quantum-limited tunable microwave receiver. https://doi.org/10.1103/4dv9-72t5

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