arXiv subjects

A. Ringwald

Publications and source records attributed to A. Ringwald.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Sensitivity of a closed dielectric haloscope to axion dark matter

We present a method to determine the sensitivity of a closed dielectric haloscope to axion dark matter. Dielectric haloscopes aim to probe the theoretically well-motivated axion mass range of ~26 $\mathrm{\mu}$eV to ~500 $\mathrm{\mu}$eV by utilizing a stack of dielectric disks and a mirror to enhance the axion-photon conversion within an external magnetic field. Their conversion volume is nearly axion-mass independent, thereby favoring large-scale designs to increase sensitivity. The large volume causes simulations to be computationally expensive and time-consuming. This paper presents a simple model that can be used to determine the sensitivity of the experiment with minimal computational resources. The model is able to describe the electromagnetic response of a closed dielectric haloscope, accounting for realistic geometric imperfections, as well as the noise introduced by the receiver system. It is applied to data taken with a MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion Experiment (MADMAX) prototype within the 1.6 T Morpurgo magnet at CERN. This work underpins the first axion dark matter search using a dielectric haloscope and provides the foundation for future dark matter searches with MADMAX.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Input to the ESPPU: The LUXE Experiment

This document presents an overview of LUXE (Laser Und XFEL Experiment), an experiment that will combine the high-quality and high-energy electron beam of the European XFEL with a high-intensity laser, to explore the uncharted terrain of strong-field quantum electrodynamics. The scientific case, facility, and detector setup are presented together with an overview of the foreseen timeline and expected capital costs.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

The International Axion Observatory (IAXO): case, status and plans. Input to the European Strategy for Particle Physics

The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a next-generation axion helioscope designed to search for solar axions with unprecedented sensitivity. IAXO holds a unique position in the global landscape of axion searches, as it will probe a region of the axion parameter space inaccessible to any other experiment. In particular, it will explore QCD axion models in the mass range from meV to eV, covering scenarios motivated by astrophysical observations and potentially extending to axion dark matter models. Several studies in recent years have demonstrated that IAXO has the potential to probe a wide range of new physics beyond solar axions, including dark photons, chameleons, gravitational waves, and axions from nearby supernovae. IAXO will build upon the two-decade experience gained with CAST, the detailed studies for BabyIAXO, which is currently under construction, as well as new technologies. If, in contrast to expectations, solar axion searches with IAXO ``only'' result in limits on new physics in presently uncharted parameter territory, these exclusions would be very robust and provide significant constraints on models, as they would not depend on untestable cosmological assumptions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

An accurate solar axions ray-tracing response of BabyIAXO

BabyIAXO is the intermediate stage of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) to be hosted at DESY. Its primary goal is the detection of solar axions following the axion helioscope technique. Axions are converted into photons in a large magnet that is pointing to the sun. The resulting X-rays are focused by appropriate X-ray optics and detected by sensitive low-background detectors placed at the focal spot. The aim of this article is to provide an accurate quantitative description of the different components (such as the magnet, optics, and X-ray detectors) involved in the detection of axions. Our efforts have focused on developing robust and integrated software tools to model these helioscope components, enabling future assessments of modifications or upgrades to any part of the IAXO axion helioscope and evaluating the potential impact on the experiment's sensitivity. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the application of these tools by presenting a precise signal calculation and response analysis of BabyIAXO's sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling. Though focusing on the Primakoff solar flux component, our virtual helioscope model can be used to test different production mechanisms, allowing for direct comparisons within a unified framework.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

First search for axion dark matter with a Madmax prototype

This paper presents the first search for dark matter axions with mass in the ranges 76.56 to 76.82 $\mu$eV and 79.31 to 79.53 $\mu$eV using a prototype setup for the MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion eXperiment (MADMAX). The experimental setup employs a dielectric haloscope consisting of three sapphire disks and a mirror to resonantly enhance the axion-induced microwave signal within the magnetic dipole field provided by the 1.6 T Morpurgo magnet at CERN. Over 14.5 days of data collection, no axion signal was detected. A 95% CL upper limit on the axion-photon coupling strength down to $|g_{a\gamma}| \sim 2 \times 10^{-11} \mathrm{GeV}^{-1}$ is set in the targeted mass ranges, surpassing previous constraints, assuming a local axion dark matter density $\rho_{a}$ of $0.3~\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{cm}^3$. This study marks the first axion dark matter search using a dielectric haloscope.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

First search for dark photon dark matter with a MADMAX prototype

We report the first result from a dark photon dark matter search in the mass range from ${78.62}$ to $83.95~\mathrm{\mu eV}/c^2$ with a dielectric haloscope prototype for MADMAX (Magnetized Disc and Mirror Axion eXperiment). Putative dark photons would convert to observable photons within a stack consisting of three sapphire disks and a mirror. The emitted power of this system is received by an antenna and successively digitized using a low-noise receiver. No dark photon signal has been observed. Assuming unpolarized dark photon dark matter with a local density of $\rho_{\chi}=0.3~\mathrm{GeV/cm^3}$ we exclude a dark photon to photon mixing parameter $\chi > 2.7 \times 10^{-12}$ over the full mass range and $\chi > 1.1 \times 10^{-13}$ at a mass of $80.57~\mathrm{\mu eV}/c^2$ with a 95\% confidence level. This is the first physics result from a MADMAX prototype and exceeds previous constraints on $\chi$ in this mass range by up to almost three orders of magnitude.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

First mechanical realization of a tunable dielectric haloscope for the MADMAX axion search experiment

MADMAX, a future experiment to search for axion dark matter, is based on a novel detection concept called the dielectric haloscope. It consists of a booster composed of several dielectric disks positioned with $\mu$m precision. A prototype composed of one movable disk was built to demonstrate the mechanical feasibility of such a booster in the challenging environment of the experiment: high magnetic field to convert the axions into photons and cryogenic temperature to reduce the thermal noise. It was tested both inside a strong magnetic field up to 1.6 T and at cryogenic temperatures down to 35K. The measurements of the velocity and positioning accuracy of the disk are shown and are found to match the MADMAX requirements.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2023

Technical Design Report for the LUXE Experiment

This Technical Design Report presents a detailed description of all aspects of the LUXE (Laser Und XFEL Experiment), an experiment that will combine the high-quality and high-energy electron beam of the European XFEL with a high-intensity laser, to explore the uncharted terrain of strong-field quantum electrodynamics characterised by both high energy and high intensity, reaching the Schwinger field and beyond. The further implications for the search of physics beyond the Standard Model are also discussed.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Discovery potential for axions in Hamburg

We review the motivation for axions, discuss benchmark axion models, and report on the ongoing and planned axion experiments in Hamburg and their discovery potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Simulating MADMAX in 3D: Requirements for Dielectric Axion Haloscopes

We present 3D calculations for dielectric haloscopes such as the currently envisioned MADMAX experiment. For ideal systems with perfectly flat, parallel and isotropic dielectric disks of finite diameter, we find that a geometrical form factor reduces the emitted power by up to $30\,\%$ compared to earlier 1D calculations. We derive the emitted beam shape, which is important for antenna design. We show that realistic dark matter axion velocities of $10^{-3} c$ and inhomogeneities of the external magnetic field at the scale of $10\,\%$ have negligible impact on the sensitivity of MADMAX. We investigate design requirements for which the emitted power changes by less than $20\,\%$ for a benchmark boost factor with a bandwidth of $50\,{\rm MHz}$ at $22\,{\rm GHz}$, corresponding to an axion mass of $90\,\mu{\rm eV}$. We find that the maximum allowed disk tilt is $100\,\mu{\rm m}$ divided by the disk diameter, the required disk planarity is $20\,\mu{\rm m}$ (min-to-max) or better, and the maximum allowed surface roughness is $100\,\mu{\rm m}$ (min-to-max). We show how using tiled dielectric disks glued together from multiple smaller patches can affect the beam shape and antenna coupling.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

MADMAX Status Report

In this report we present the status of the MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion eXperiment (MADMAX), the first dielectric haloscope for the direct search of dark matter axions in the mass range of 40 to 400 $\mu$eV. MADMAX will consist of several parallel dielectric disks, which are placed in a strong magnetic field and with adjustable separations. This setting is expected to allow for an observable emission of axion induced electromagnetic waves at a frequency between 10 and 100 GHz corresponding to the axion mass. The present document orignated from a status report to the DESY PRC in 2019.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2019

Letter of Intent for the LUXE Experiment

This Letter of Intent describes LUXE (Laser Und XFEL Experiment), an experiment that aims to use the high-quality and high-energy electron beam of the European XFEL and a powerful laser. The scientific objective of the experiment is to study quantum electrodynamics processes in the regime of strong fields. High-energy electrons, accelerated by the European XFEL linear accelerator, and high-energy photons, produced via Bremsstrahlung of those beam electrons, colliding with a laser beam shall experience an electric field up to three times larger than the Schwinger critical field (the field at which the vacuum itself is expected to become unstable and spark with spontaneous creation of electron-positron pairs) and access a new regime of quantum physics. The processes to be investigated, which include nonlinear Compton scattering and nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production, are relevant to a variety of phenomena in Nature, e.g. in the areas of astrophysics and collider physics and complement recent results in atomic physics. The setup requires in particular the extraction of a minute fraction of the electron bunches from the European XFEL accelerator, the installation of a powerful laser with sophisticated diagnostics, and an array of precision detectors optimised to measure electrons, positrons and photons. Physics sensitivity projections based on simulations are also provided.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2019

Summary of strong-field QED Workshop

A workshop, "Probing strong-field QED in electron--photon interactions", was held in DESY, Hamburg in August 2018, gathering together experts from around the world in this area of physics as well as the accelerator, laser and detector technology that underpins any planned experiment. The aim of the workshop was to bring together experts and those interested in measuring QED in the presence of strong fields at and above the Schwinger critical field. The pioneering experiment, E144 at SLAC, measured multi-photon absorption in Compton scattering and $e^+e^-$ pair production in electron--photon interactions but never reached the Schwinger critical field value. With the advances in laser technology, in particular, new experiments are being considered which should be able to measure non-perturbative QED and its transition from the perturbative regime. This workshop reviewed the physics case and current theoretical predictions for QED and even effects beyond the Standard Model in the interaction of a high-intensity electron bunch with the strong field of the photons from a high-intensity laser bunch. The world's various electron beam facilities were reviewed, along with the challenges of producing and delivering laser beams to the interaction region. Possible facilities and sites that could host such experiments were presented, with a view to experimentally realising the Schwinger critical field in the lab during the 2020s.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO)

We review the physics potential of a next generation search for solar axions: the International Axion Observatory (IAXO). Endowed with a sensitivity to discover axion-like particles (ALPs) with a coupling to photons as small as $g_{a\gamma}\sim 10^{-12}$ GeV$^{-1}$, or to electrons $g_{ae}\sim$10$^{-13}$, IAXO has the potential to find the QCD axion in the 1 meV$\sim$1 eV mass range where it solves the strong CP problem, can account for the cold dark matter of the Universe and be responsible for the anomalous cooling observed in a number of stellar systems. At the same time, IAXO will have enough sensitivity to detect lower mass axions invoked to explain: 1) the origin of the anomalous "transparency" of the Universe to gamma-rays, 2) the observed soft X-ray excess from galaxy clusters or 3) some inflationary models. In addition, we review string theory axions with parameters accessible by IAXO and discuss their potential role in cosmology as Dark Matter and Dark Radiation as well as their connections to the above mentioned conundrums.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

A new experimental approach to probe QCD axion dark matter in the mass range above 40$\mu$eV

The axion emerges in extensions of the Standard Model that explain the absence of CP violation in the strong interactions. Simultaneously, it can provide naturally the cold dark matter in our universe. Several searches for axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) have constrained the corresponding parameter space over the last decades but no unambiguous hints of their existence have been found. The axion mass range below 1 meV remains highly attractive and a well motivated region for dark matter axions. In this White Paper we present a description of a new experiment based on the concept of a dielectric haloscope for the direct search of dark matter axions in the mass range of 40 to 400 $\mu$eV. This MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion eXperiment (MADMAX) will consist of several parallel dielectric disks, which are placed in a strong magnetic field and with adjustable separations. This setting is expected to allow for an observable emission of axion induced electromagnetic waves at a frequency between 10 to 100 GHz corresponding to the axion mass.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2016

Lattice QCD for Cosmology

We present a full result for the equation of state (EoS) in 2+1+1 (up/down, strange and charm quarks are present) flavour lattice QCD. We extend this analysis and give the equation of state in 2+1+1+1 flavour QCD. In order to describe the evolution of the universe from temperatures several hundreds of GeV to several tens of MeV we also include the known effects of the electroweak theory and give the effective degree of freedoms. As another application of lattice QCD we calculate the topological susceptibility (chi) up to the few GeV temperature region. These two results, EoS and chi, can be used to predict the dark matter axion's mass in the post-inflation scenario and/or give the relationship between the axion's mass and the universal axionic angle, which acts as a initial condition of our universe.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2015

Axion cosmology, lattice QCD and the dilute instanton gas

Axions are one of the most attractive dark matter candidates. The evolution of their number density in the early universe can be determined by calculating the topological susceptibility $\chi(T)$ of QCD as a function of the temperature. Lattice QCD provides an ab initio technique to carry out such a calculation. A full result needs two ingredients: physical quark masses and a controlled continuum extrapolation from non-vanishing to zero lattice spacings. We determine $\chi(T)$ in the quenched framework (infinitely large quark masses) and extrapolate its values to the continuum limit. The results are compared with the prediction of the dilute instanton gas approximation (DIGA). A nice agreement is found for the temperature dependence, whereas the overall normalization of the DIGA result still differs from the non-perturbative continuum extrapolated lattice results by a factor of order ten. We discuss the consequences of our findings for the prediction of the amount of axion dark matter.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2014

Axions and Axion-Like Particles

The physics case for axions and axion-like particles is reviewed and an overview of ongoing and near-future laboratory searches is presented.

hep-ph↗