A search for axions in the Sun
Helioscopes—instruments that track the Sun as it moves across the sky—are used to conduct one of three major types of axion experiments. Lawrence Livermore has long played a major role in these experiments, including:
- Using the helioscope technique employed by the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) to detect solar axions with masses up to about 1 eV.
- Playing a major role in the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX) to study halo axions using microwave cavities.
Now, our team holds leadership positions in the next generation of solar axion searches, such as the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) experiment. This experiment will look for axions and axion-like particles produced in the Sun with unprecedented sensitivity. Beyond standard axions, the experiment will also be able to search for a large variety of axion-like particles and other novel excitations at the low-energy frontier of elementary particle physics. Our team has roles in all stages of the project, from conception to data analysis.
Specifically, our team is leading the development of the reflective x-ray telescope. X-ray telescopes are a key element in increasing helioscope sensitivities because they enable the use of strong laboratory magnets with large cross-sectional areas together with small ultra-low background detectors. Focusing x-rays from axion-to-photon conversion via strong magnetic fields is crucial to measuring the signal and background simultaneously and boosting signal-to-noise ratios for these rare-event searches.
Our expertise in axion research and x-ray optics development allows our team to design and build telescopes optimally matched to the expected axion spectrum and detector characteristics. As key drivers of the quality of the science data, the telescopes will be characterized, and then implemented in the IAXO experiment.
Building on previous work
The Laboratory has been called upon throughout the last two-plus decades to develop x-ray optics for a variety of space and ground-based applications, and our work leverages this experience. We built a prototype mirror for IAXO using the same technology and tooling as the x-ray telescope flown on NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, and the prototype has already delivered benchmark results in solar axion research.
