Search for Dark Matter Axions with CAST-CAPP.

ABSTRACT

The CAST-CAPP axion haloscope, operating at CERN inside the CAST dipole magnet, has searched for axions in the 19.74 µeV to 22.47 µeV mass range. The detection concept follows the Sikivie haloscope principle, where Dark Matter axions convert into photons within a resonator immersed in a magnetic field. The CAST-CAPP resonator is an array of four individual rectangular cavities inserted in a strong dipole magnet, phase-matched to maximize the detection sensitivity. Here we report on the data acquired for 4124 h from 2019 to 2021. Each cavity is equipped with a fast frequency tuning mechanism of 10 MHz/ min between 4.774 GHz and 5.434 GHz. In the present work, we exclude axion-photon couplings for virialized galactic axions down to gaγγ = 8 × 10-14 GeV-1 at the 90% confidence level. The here implemented phase-matching technique also allows for future large-scale upgrades.