NMR Search for the Dark-Matter Wind

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Dmitry Budker, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields
• Term: from 2015 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278413308

• Final Report Year: 2022

Final Report Abstract

The project was devoted to experimental searches for possible constituents of dark matter. Dark matter is an elusive substance that appears to account for about 80% of all matter in universe but whose origin is still unknown. Some of the leading hypotheses for what dark matter could be postulate that it is a field that is composed of so-called ultralight bosonic particles. In our projects, we have developed novel methods to detect such ultralight bosonic dark matter (UBDM) using various experimental platforms including the cosmic axion spin-precession experiment (CASPEr), the global network of optical magnetometers for exotic physics searches (GNOME), as well as experiments involving precision atomic and molecular spectroscopy. While no unambiguous dark matter candidates have been found so far, the successful outcomes of the project consist in experimentally limiting possible parameter spaces for dark matter candidates. The work in the framework of this project has been covered in numerous reports in popular media.

Publications

• The cosmic axion spin precession experiment (CASPEr): a dark-matter search with nuclear magnetic resonance. Quantum Science and Technology, 3(1), 014008.
  Garcon, Antoine; Aybas, Deniz; Blanchard, John W.; Centers, Gary; Figueroa, Nataniel L.; Graham, Peter W.; Kimball, Derek F. Jackson; Rajendran, Surjeet; Sendra, Marina Gil; Sushkov, Alexander O.; Trahms, Lutz; Wang, Tao; Wickenbrock, Arne; Wu, Teng & Budker, Dmitry
  
• Application of spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetometry to the Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment. Physics of the Dark Universe, 19, 27-35.
  Wang, Tao; Kimball, Derek F. Jackson; Sushkov, Alexander O.; Aybas, Deniz; Blanchard, John W.; Centers, Gary; Kelley, Sean R. O.’; Wickenbrock, Arne; Fang, Jiancheng & Budker, Dmitry
  
• Constraints on bosonic dark matter from ultralow-field nuclear magnetic resonance. Science Advances, 5(10).
  Garcon, Antoine; Blanchard, John W.; Centers, Gary P.; Figueroa, Nataniel L.; Graham, Peter W.; Jackson, Kimball Derek F.; Rajendran, Surjeet; Sushkov, Alexander O.; Stadnik, Yevgeny V.; Wickenbrock, Arne; Wu, Teng & Budker, Dmitry
  
• Search for Axionlike Dark Matter with a Liquid-State Nuclear Spin Comagnetometer. Physical Review Letters, 122(19).
  Wu, Teng; Blanchard, John W.; Centers, Gary P.; Figueroa, Nataniel L.; Garcon, Antoine; Graham, Peter W.; Kimball, Derek F. Jackson; Rajendran, Surjeet; Stadnik, Yevgeny V.; Sushkov, Alexander O.; Wickenbrock, Arne & Budker, Dmitry
  
• Overview of the Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr). Springer Proceedings in Physics, 105-121. Springer International Publishing.
  Jackson, Kimball Derek F.; Afach, S.; Aybas, D.; Blanchard, J. W.; Budker, D.; Centers, G.; Engler, M.; Figueroa, N. L.; Garcon, A.; Graham, P. W.; Luo, H.; Rajendran, S.; Sendra, M. G.; Sushkov, A. O.; Wang, T.; Wickenbrock, A.; Wilzewski, A. & Wu, T.
  
• Quantum sensitivity limits of nuclear magnetic resonance experiments searching for new fundamental physics. Quantum Science and Technology, 6(3), 034007.
  Aybas, Deniz; Bekker, Hendrik; Blanchard, John W.; Budker, Dmitry; Centers, Gary P.; Figueroa, Nataniel L.; Gramolin, Alexander V.; Jackson, Kimball Derek F.; Wickenbrock, Arne & Sushkov, Alexander O.
  
• Search for Axionlike Dark Matter Using Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Physical Review Letters, 126(14).
  Aybas, Deniz; Adam, Janos; Blumenthal, Emmy; Gramolin, Alexander V.; Johnson, Dorian; Kleyheeg, Annalies; Afach, Samer; Blanchard, John W.; Centers, Gary P.; Garcon, Antoine; Engler, Martin; Figueroa, Nataniel L.; Sendra, Marina Gil; Wickenbrock, Arne; Lawson, Matthew; Wang, Tao; Wu, Teng; Luo, Haosu; Mani, Hamdi ... & Sushkov, Alexander O.
  
• Search for topological defect dark matter with a global network of optical magnetometers. Nature Physics, 17(12), 1396-1401.
  Afach, Samer; Buchler, Ben C.; Budker, Dmitry; Dailey, Conner; Derevianko, Andrei; Dumont, Vincent; Figueroa, Nataniel L.; Gerhardt, Ilja; Grujić, Zoran D.; Guo, Hong; Hao, Chuanpeng; Hamilton, Paul S.; Hedges, Morgan; Jackson, Kimball Derek F.; Kim, Dongok; Khamis, Sami; Kornack, Thomas; Lebedev, Victor; Lu, Zheng-Tian ... & Zhang, Jianwei
  
• Self-Compensating Co-Magnetometer vs. Spin-Exchange Relaxation-Free Magnetometer: Sensitivity To Nonmagnetic Spin Couplings. Research Square Platform LLC.
  Padniuk, Mikhail; Kopciuch, Marek; Cipolletti, Riccardo; Wickenbrock, Arne; Budker, Dmitry & Pustelny, Szymon
  
• Spectral signatures of axionlike dark matter. Physical Review D, 105(3).
  Gramolin, Alexander V.; Wickenbrock, Arne; Aybas, Deniz; Bekker, Hendrik; Budker, Dmitry; Centers, Gary P.; Figueroa, Nataniel L.; Jackson, Kimball Derek F. & Sushkov, Alexander O.