Abstract
Ultralight axion-like particles are well-motivated relics that might compose the cosmological dark matter and source anomalous time-dependent magnetic fields. We report on terrestrial bounds from the Noble And Alkali Spin Detectors for Ultralight Coherent darK matter (NASDUCK) collaboration on the coupling of axion-like particles to neutrons and protons. The detector uses nuclei of noble-gas and alkali-metal atoms and operates in the Spin-Exchange Relaxation-Free (SERF) regime, achieving high sensitivity to axion-like dark matter fields. Conducting a month-long search, we cover the mass range of 1.4 × 10−12 eV/c 2 to 2 × 10−10 eV/c 2 and provide limits which supersede robust astrophysical bounds, and improve upon previous terrestrial constraints by over two orders of magnitude for many masses within this range for protons, and up to two orders of magnitude for neutrons. These are the sole reliable terrestrial bounds reported on the coupling of protons with axion-like dark matter, covering an unexplored terrain in its parameter space.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 5784 |
| Journal | Nature Communications |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The work of Y.H. is supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grants No. 1112/17 and 1818/22), by the Binational Science Foundation (grant No. 2016155), by the Azrieli Foundation and by an ERC STG grant (‘Light-Dark’, grant No. 101040019). E.K. is supported by the US-Israeli Binational Science Foundation (grant No. 2020220) and by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1111/17). T.V. is supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1862/21), by the Binational Science Foundation (grant No. 2020220) and by the European Research Council (ERC) under the EU Horizon 2020 Program (ERC-CoG-2015—Proposal n. 682676 LDMThExp). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101040019). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. The European Union cannot be held responsible for them.
Funding Information:
The work of Y.H. is supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grants No. 1112/17 and 1818/22), by the Binational Science Foundation (grant No. 2016155), by the Azrieli Foundation and by an ERC STG grant (‘Light-Dark’, grant No. 101040019). E.K. is supported by the US-Israeli Binational Science Foundation (grant No. 2020220) and by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1111/17). T.V. is supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1862/21), by the Binational Science Foundation (grant No. 2020220) and by the European Research Council (ERC) under the EU Horizon 2020 Program (ERC-CoG-2015—Proposal n. 682676 LDMThExp). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101040019). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. The European Union cannot be held responsible for them.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Springer Nature Limited.