Search for sub-eV mass solar axions by the CERN Axion Solar Telescope with 3He buffer gas

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) has extended its search for solar axions by using (3)He as a buffer gas. At T=1.8 K this allows for larger pressure settings and hence sensitivity to higher axion masses than our previous measurements with (4)He. With about 1 h of data taking at each of 252 different pressure settings we have scanned the axion mass range 0.39 eV?m(a)?0.64 eV. From the absence of excess x rays when the magnet was pointing to the Sun we set a typical upper limit on the axion-photon coupling of g(aγ)?2.3×10(-10) GeV(-1) at 95% C.L., the exact value depending on the pressure setting. Kim-Shifman-Vainshtein-Zakharov axions are excluded at the upper end of our mass range, the first time ever for any solar axion search. In the future we will extend our search to m(a)?1.15 eV, comfortably overlapping with cosmological hot dark matter bounds.     

A cryogenic underground observatory for rare events: CUORE, an update

CUORE is a proposed tightly packed array of 1000 TeO₂ bolometers, each being a cube 5 cm on a side with a mass of 750 g. The array consists of 25 vertical towers, arranged in a square of 5 towers by 5 towers, each containing ten layers of four crystals. The design of the detector is optimized for ultralow-background searches for neutrinoless double beta decay of ¹³⁰Te (33.8% abundance), cold dark matter, solar axions, and rare nuclear decays. A preliminary experiment involving 20 crystals of various sizes (MIBETA) has been completed, and a single CUORE tower is being constructed as a smaller scale experiment called CUORICINO. The expected performance and sensitivity, based on Monte Carlo simulations and extrapolations of present results, are reported.     

First results from the CERN axion solar telescope

Hypothetical axionlike particles with a two-photon interaction would be produced in the sun by the Primakoff process. In a laboratory magnetic field ("axion helioscope"), they would be transformed into x-rays with energies of a few keV. Using a decommissioned Large Hadron Collider test magnet, the CERN Axion Solar Telescope ran for about 6 months during 2003. The first results from the analysis of these data are presented here. No signal above background was observed, implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling g(agamma)<1.16x10(-10) GeV-1 at 95% C.L. for m(a) less, similar 0.02 eV. This limit, assumption-free, is comparable to the limit from stellar energy-loss arguments and considerably more restrictive than any previous experiment over a broad range of axion masses.     

A Proposal for a Low-Frequency Axion Search in the 1–2 μ eV Range and Below with the BabyIAXO Magnet

In the near future BabyIAXO will be the most powerful axion helioscope, relying on a custom-made magnet of two bores of 70 cm diameter and 10 m long, with a total available magnetic volume of more than 7 m³. In this document, it proposes and describe the implementation of low-frequency axion haloscope setups suitable for operation inside the BabyIAXO magnet. The RADES proposal has a potential sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling $g_{a\gamma }$ down to values corresponding to the KSVZ model, in the (currently unexplored) mass range between 1 and 2 $\mu$ eV, after a total effective exposure of 440 days. This mass range is covered by the use of four differently dimensioned 5-meter-long cavities, equipped with a tuning mechanism based on inner turning plates. A setup like the one proposed will also allow an exploration of the same mass range for hidden photons coupled to photons. An additional complementary apparatus is proposed using LC circuits and exploring the low energy range ( $\approx {10}^{-4}-{10}^{-1}\mu$ eV). The setup includes a cryostat and cooling system to cool down the BabyIAXO bore down to about 5 K, as well as an appropriate low-noise signal amplification and detection chain.     

The new micromegas X‐ray detectors in CAST

The last generation of micromegas, called microbulk, are ahead of classical gas detectors (or even other kind of micro‐pattern gas detectors) in gain stability, efficiency (by operation at high pressure), simplicity, robustness, energy resolution, readout features and radiopurity. This makes them a competent solution in the field of Rare Event Searches, a field where low background is the most appreciated feature of a detector. The CAST (CERN Axion Solar Telescope) experiment is the best example of their application in the X‐rays range. In CAST, these detectors have achieved background rates as low as 6 × 10^?6 counts keV^?1 cm^?2 s^?1. Beyond this nominal operation, there have been several periods where the background has been reduced to a level of 2 × 10^?7 counts keV^?1 cm^?2 s^?1, due to reasons which are under investigation. The CAST experiment will be presented, paying special attention to their microbulk micromegas, as well as the procedures to achieve low background. Latest news about the operation of these kinds of detectors for the first time in underground conditions will be advanced here. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The quest for axions and other new light particles

Standard Model extensions often predict low‐mass and very weakly interacting particles, such as the axion. A number of small‐scale experiments at the intensity/precision frontier are actively searching for these elusive particles, complementing searches for physics beyond the Standard Model at colliders. Whilst a next generation of experiments will give access to a huge unexplored parameter space, a discovery would have a tremendous impact on our understanding of fundamental physics.     

The CUORICINO 130Te ββ-decay experiment and a new limit on T_{{1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 2}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} 2}}^{0\nu } (\beta \beta )

The CUORICINO ββ-decay detector is an array of 62 TeO2 bolometers; 44 are 5×5×5-cm crystals made with natural tellurium (33.8% ¹³⁰Te). There are 18, 3×3×6-cm crystals, 14 of which are made of natural tellurium, 2 are isotopically enriched to 75% in ¹³⁰Te, and 2 are enriched to 82.3% in ¹²⁸Te. The total mass of ¹³⁰Te is ～ 11 kg. The background rate is 0.23 ± 0.04 counts/keV/kg/yr in the energy interval 2480 to 2600 keV. During the cooling process, some of the wires became disconnected and only 32 of the large and 16 of the smaller crystals could be read out. The data presented here come from 29 of the 5×5×5-cm crystals containing 6.2 kg of ¹³⁰Te. The new limit on the half-life is $T_{{1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 2}} \right. \kern-0em} 2}}^{0\nu } \geqslant 5 \times 10^{23} yr$ , corresponding to an effective Majorana mass of the electron neutrino 〈m _ν〉 between 0.42 and 2.05 eV, depending on the nuclear model used to analyze the data.     

Recent results of the IGEX 76Ge double-beta decay experiment

The International Germanium Experiment (IGEX) has now analyzed 117 mol yr of data from its isotopically enriched (86% ⁷⁶Ge) germanium detectors. Applying pulse shape discrimination (PSD) to the more recent data, the lower bound on the half-life for neutrinoless double-beta decay of ⁷⁶Ge is deduced: T _1/2(0ν)>1.57×10²⁵ yr (90% C.L.). This corresponds to an upper bound on the Majorana neutrino mass parameter, 〈m _ν〉, between 0.33 eV and 1.35 eV depending on the choice of theoretical nuclear matrix elements used in the analysis.