External Seminar by Jeff Dror

Thursday 18 Nov 2021, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/London

Title
The Cosmic Axion Background

Abstract:
Existing searches for cosmic axions relics have relied heavily on the axion being non-relativistic and making up dark matter. However, light axions can be copiously produced in the early Universe and remain relativistic today, thereby constituting a Cosmic axion Background (CaB).  In this talk, I will present the prospects for production and detection of a CaB. Prototypical examples of sources of a CaB are thermal production, dark-matter decay, inflation, and cosmic phase transitions. Each of these has a characteristic frequency spectrum that can be searched for in axion direct detection experiments. I will focus on the axion-photon coupling and study the sensitivity of current and future versions of ADMX, HAYSTAC, DMRadio, and ABRACADABRA to a CaB, finding that the data collected in search of dark matter can be repurposed to detect axion energy densities well below limits set by measurements of the energy budget of the Universe. In this way, direct detection of relativistic relics offers a powerful new opportunity to learn about the early Universe and, potentially, discover the axion.

Zoom link:  IPPP Seminars (Thursday at 2 pm UK time)

https://durhamuniversity.zoom.us/j/99420124988?pwd=ZEFLSDB3THJtaWZOTU54R25mT1NuZz09

Meeting ID: 994 2012 4988

recording.mp4