arXiv:2306.11575·v2·High Energy Physics — Phenomenology
A Hunt for Magnetic Signatures of Hidden-Photon and Axion Dark Matter in the Wilderness
Ibrahim A. Sulai · Saarik Kalia · Ariel Arza · Itay M. Bloch · Eduardo Castro Muñoz · Christopher Fabian · Michael A. Fedderke · Madison Forseth · Brian Garthwaite · Peter W. Graham · Will Griffith · Erik Helgren
Abstract
Earth can act as a transducer to convert ultralight bosonic dark matter (axions and hidden photons) into an oscillating magnetic field with a characteristic pattern across its surface. Here we describe the first results of a dedicated experiment, the Search for Non-Interacting Particles Experimental Hunt (SNIPE Hunt), that aims to detect such dark-matter-induced magnetic-field patterns by performing correlated measurements with a network of magnetometers in relatively quiet magnetic environments (in the wilderness far from human-generated magnetic noise). Our experiment constrains parameter space describing hidden-photon and axion dark matter with Compton frequencies in the 0.5-5.0 Hz range. Limits on the kinetic-mixing parameter for hidden-photon dark matter represent the best experimental bounds to date in this frequency range.
Comments: 22 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in PRD. Minor changes in text and updated / improved limits