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J. Miralda-Escudé

Publications and source records attributed to J. Miralda-Escudé.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

RADES axion search results with a High-Temperature Superconducting cavity in an 11.7 T magnet

We describe the results of a haloscope axion search performed with an 11.7 T dipole magnet at CERN. The search used a custom-made radio-frequency cavity coated with high-temperature superconducting tape. A set of 27 h of data at a resonant frequency of around 8.84 GHz was analysed. In the range of axion mass 36.5676 $μ$eV to 36.5699 $μ$eV, corresponding to a width of 554 kHz, no signal excess hinting at an axion-like particle was found. Correspondingly, in this mass range, a limit on the axion to photon coupling-strength was set in the range between g$_{aγ}\gtrsim$ 6.2e-13 GeV$^{-1}$ and g$_{aγ}\gtrsim$ 1.59e-13 GeV$^{-1}$ with a 95% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

A proposal for a low-frequency axion search in the 1-2 $μ$eV range and below with the BabyIAXO magnet

In the near future BabyIAXO will be the most powerful axion helioscope, relying on a custom-made magnet of two bores of 70 cm diameter and 10 m long, with a total available magnetic volume of more than 7 m$^3$. In this document, we propose and describe the implementation of low-frequency axion haloscope setups suitable for operation inside the BabyIAXO magnet. The RADES proposal has a potential sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling $g_{aγ}$ down to values corresponding to the KSVZ model, in the (currently unexplored) mass range between 1 and 2$~μ$eV, after a total effective exposure of 440 days. This mass range is covered by the use of four differently dimensioned 5-meter-long cavities, equipped with a tuning mechanism based on inner turning plates. A setup like the one proposed would also allow an exploration of the same mass range for hidden photons coupled to photons. An additional complementary apparatus is proposed using LC circuits and exploring the low energy range ($\sim10^{-4}-10^{-1}~μ$eV). The setup includes a cryostat and cooling system to cool down the BabyIAXO bore down to about 5 K, as well as appropriate low-noise signal amplification and detection chain.

physics.ins-det↗

First results of the CAST-RADES haloscope search for axions at 34.67 $μ$eV

We present results of the Relic Axion Dark-Matter Exploratory Setup (RADES), a detector which is part of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), searching for axion dark matter in the 34.67$μ$eV mass range. A radio frequency cavity consisting of 5 sub-cavities coupled by inductive irises took physics data inside the CAST dipole magnet for the first time using this filter-like haloscope geometry. An exclusion limit with a 95% credibility level on the axion-photon coupling constant of g$_{aγ}\gtrsim 4\times10^{-13} \text{GeV}^{-1}$ over a mass range of 34.6738 $μ$eV < $m_a$ < 34.6771 $μ$eV is set. This constitutes a significant improvement over the current strongest limit set by CAST at this mass and is at the same time one of the most sensitive direct searches for an axion dark matter candidate above the mass of 25 $μ$eV. The results also demonstrate the feasibility of exploring a wider mass range around the value probed by CAST-RADES in this work using similar coherent resonant cavities.

hep-ex↗

The tidal stream generated by the globular cluster NGC 3201

We detect a tidal stream generated by the globular cluster NGC 3201 extending over ~140 degrees on the sky, using the Gaia DR2 data, with the maximum likelihood method we presented previously to study the M68 tidal stream. Most of the detected stream is the trailing one, which stretches in the southern Galactic hemisphere and passes within a close distance of 3.2 kpc from the Sun, therefore making the stream highly favorable for discovering relatively bright member stars, while the leading arm is further from us and behind a disk foreground that is harder to separate from. The cluster has just crossed the Galactic disk and is now in the northern Galactic hemisphere, moderately obscured by dust, and the part of the trailing tail closest to the cluster is highly obscured behind the plane. We obtain a best-fit model of the stream which is consistent with the measured proper motion, radial velocity and distance to NGC 3201, and show it to be the same as the previously detected Gjöll stream by Ibata et al. We identify ~200 stars with the highest likelihood of being stream members using only their Gaia kinematic data. Most of these stars (170) are photometrically consistent with being members of NGC 3201 when they are compared to the cluster H-R diagram, only once a correction for dust absorption and reddening by the Galaxy is applied. The remaining stars are consistent with being random foreground objects according to simulated data sets. We list these 170 highly likely stream member stars, which will be of strong interest to model the gravitational potential of the Milky Way and to be followed up spectroscopically for accurate radial velocities.

astro-ph.GA↗

Conceptual Design of BabyIAXO, the intermediate stage towards the International Axion Observatory

This article describes BabyIAXO, an intermediate experimental stage of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO), proposed to be sited at DESY. IAXO is a large-scale axion helioscope that will look for axions and axion-like particles (ALPs), produced in the Sun, with unprecedented sensitivity. BabyIAXO is conceived to test all IAXO subsystems (magnet, optics and detectors) at a relevant scale for the final system and thus serve as prototype for IAXO, but at the same time as a fully-fledged helioscope with relevant physics reach itself, and with potential for discovery. The BabyIAXO magnet will feature two 10 m long, 70 cm diameter bores, and will host two detection lines (optics and detector) of dimensions similar to the final ones foreseen for IAXO. BabyIAXO will detect or reject solar axions or ALPs with axion-photon couplings down to $g_{aγ} \sim 1.5 \times 10^{-11}$ GeV$^{-1}$, and masses up to $m_a\sim 0.25$ eV. BabyIAXO will offer additional opportunities for axion research in view of IAXO, like the development of precision x-ray detectors to identify particular spectral features in the solar axion spectrum, and the implementation of radiofrequency-cavity-based axion dark matter setups.

physics.ins-det↗

Statistical detection of a tidal stream associated with the globular cluster M68 using Gaia data

A method to search for tidal streams and to fit their orbits based on maximum likelihood is presented and applied to the Gaia data. Tests of the method are performed showing how a simulated stream produced by tidal stripping of a star cluster is recovered when added to a simulation of the Gaia catalogue. The method can be applied to search for streams associated with known progenitors or to do blind searches in a general catalogue. As the first example, we apply the method to the globular cluster M68 and detect its clear tidal stream stretching over the whole North Galactic hemisphere, and passing within 5 kpc of the Sun. This is one of the closest tidal streams to us detected so far, and is highly promising to provide new constraints on the Milky Way gravitational potential, for which we present preliminary fits finding a slightly oblate dark halo consistent with other observations. We identify the M68 tidal stream with the previously discovered Fjörm stream by Ibata et al. The tidal stream is confirmed to contain stars that are consistent with the HR-diagram of M68. We provide a list of 115 stars that are most likely to be stream members, and should be prime targets for follow-up spectroscopic studies.

astro-ph.GA↗

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 $g_{aγ}\sim 10^{-12}$ 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↗

WEAVE-QSO: A Massive Intergalactic Medium Survey for the William Herschel Telescope

In these proceedings we describe the WEAVE-QSO survey, which will observe around 400,000 high redshift quasars starting in 2018. This survey is part of a broader WEAVE survey to be conducted at the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope. We will focus on chiefly on the science goals, but will also briefly summarise the target selection methods anticipated and the expected survey plan. Understanding the apparent acceleration in the expansion of the Universe is one of the key scientific challenges of our time. Many experiments have been proposed to study this expansion, using a variety of techniques. Here we describe a survey that can measure this acceleration and therefore help elucidate the nature of dark energy: a survey of the Lyman-alpha forest (and quasar absorption in general) in spectra towards z>2 quasars (QSOs). Further constraints on neutrino masses and warm dark matter are also anticipated. The same data will also shed light on galaxy formation via study of the properties of inflowing/outflowing gas associated with nearby galaxies and in a cosmic web context. Gas properties are sensitive to density, temperature, UV radiation, metallicity and abundance pattern, and so constraint galaxy formation in a variety of ways. WEAVE-QSO will study absorbers with a dynamic range spanning more than 8 orders of magnitude in column density, their thermal broadening, and a host of elements and ionization species. A core principal of the WEAVE-QSO survey is the targeting of QSOs with near 100% efficiency principally through use of the J-PAS (r < 23.2) and Gaia (r < 20) data.

astro-ph.CO↗

Column density distribution and cosmological mass density of neutral gas: Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Data Release 9

We present the first results from an ongoing survey for Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) in the spectra of z>2 quasars observed in the course of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) III. Our full (non-statistical) sample, based on Data Release 9, comprises 12,081 systems with log N(HI)>=20, out of which 6,839 have log N(HI)>=20.3. This is the largest DLA sample ever compiled, superseding that from SDSS-II by a factor of seven. Using a statistical sub-sample and estimating systematics from realistic mock data, we probe the N(HI) distribution at = 2.5. Contrary to what is generally believed, the distribution extends beyond 10^22 cm^-2 with a moderate slope of index\approx-3.5. This result matches surprisingly well the opacity-corrected distribution observed at z = 0. The cosmological mass density of neutral gas in DLAs is found to be Omega_g_DLA~10^-3, evolving only mildly over the past 12 billion years.

astro-ph.CO↗

Protostellar Cloud Fragmentation and Inward Migration by Disk Capture as the Origin of Massive Exoplanets

A new model for the formation of Jovian planets is proposed. We consider planets forming at large distances from a protostar (>100 AU) through direct fragmentation of a gas cloud, by the same formation mechanism as wide stellar and brown dwarf binaries. We model the gravitational evolution of a system of these distant planets and a second population formed in a disk closer to the star. We compute the typical closest approach of these planets to the star (i.e., smallest pericenter) over the course of their evolution. When the planets reach a pericenter within a gaseous disk surroundig the star, dynamical friction from this disk slows down the planet at each plunge, causing its orbit to be gradually circularized and made coplanar with the disk. After the disk dissipates, a large fraction of these planets may be left at orbits small enough to be detected in present radial velocity surveys. A brief analytic derivation of the rate of orbital energy dissipation during these disk crossings is presented. Observational tests of this model are discussed.

astro-ph↗