arXiv:1509.02386·v2·Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Search for dark matter in the hidden-photon sector with a large spherical mirror
The FUNK Experiment: Darko Veberič (1)🇩🇪 · Kai Daumiller (1)🇩🇪 · Babette Döbrich (2)🇨🇭 · Ralph Engel (1)🇩🇪 · Joerg Jaeckel (3)🇩🇪 · Marek Kowalski (4 and 5)🇩🇪 · Axel Lindner (4)🇩🇪 · Hermann-Josef Mathes (1)🇩🇪 · Javier Redondo (6)🇪🇸 · Markus Roth (1)🇩🇪 · Christoph M. Schäfer (1)🇩🇪 · Ralf Ulrich (1) ((1) Institute for Nuclear Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, (2) Physics Department, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, (3) Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, Germany, (4) Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany, (5) Department of Physics, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, (6) Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Zaragoza, Spain)🇩🇪
Abstract
If dark matter consists of hidden-sector photons which kinetically mix with regular photons, a tiny oscillating electric-field component is present wherever we have dark matter. In the surface of conducting materials this induces a small probability to emit single photons almost perpendicular to the surface, with the corresponding photon frequency matching the mass of the hidden photons. We report on a construction of an experimental setup with a large ~14 m2 spherical metallic mirror that will allow for searches of hidden-photon dark matter in the eV and sub-eV range by application of different electromagnetic radiation detectors. We discuss sensitivity and accessible regions in the dark matter parameter space.
Comments: 9 pages, proceeding of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), July 30 - August 6, 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands