Broadband phonon production from axion absorption
Abstract We show that axion dark matter in the range meV ≲ m a ≲ 100 meV can incoherently excite phonons in crystal targets with unpolarised nuclear spins. This can occur through its coupling to nuclear spins and/or through its induced time-dependent electric dipole moment in nuclei. Due to the rand...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of High Energy Physics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2025)080 |
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| author | Itay M. Bloch Simon Knapen Amalia Madden Giacomo Marocco |
| author_facet | Itay M. Bloch Simon Knapen Amalia Madden Giacomo Marocco |
| author_sort | Itay M. Bloch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract We show that axion dark matter in the range meV ≲ m a ≲ 100 meV can incoherently excite phonons in crystal targets with unpolarised nuclear spins. This can occur through its coupling to nuclear spins and/or through its induced time-dependent electric dipole moment in nuclei. Due to the random orientation of the nuclear spins, translation symmetry is broken in the phonon effective theory, allowing axion absorption to create phonons with unrestricted momentum. The absorption rate is therefore proportional to the phonon density of states, which generically has support across a wide range of energies, allowing for a broadband detection scheme. We calculate the absorption rate for solid H2, D2, Al2O3, GaAs, H2O, D2O, Be and Li2O, and find that materials containing light, non-zero spin nuclei are the most promising. The predicted rates for the QCD axion are of the order of a few events / 10 kg-year exposure, setting an ambitious target for the required exposure and background suppression. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-25b34867cff6420fba8f7a488ff4bf21 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1029-8479 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of High Energy Physics |
| spelling | doaj-art-25b34867cff6420fba8f7a488ff4bf212025-08-20T02:11:55ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792025-03-012025312910.1007/JHEP03(2025)080Broadband phonon production from axion absorptionItay M. Bloch0Simon Knapen1Amalia Madden2Giacomo Marocco3Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryPhysics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryKavli Institute for Theoretical PhysicsPhysics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryAbstract We show that axion dark matter in the range meV ≲ m a ≲ 100 meV can incoherently excite phonons in crystal targets with unpolarised nuclear spins. This can occur through its coupling to nuclear spins and/or through its induced time-dependent electric dipole moment in nuclei. Due to the random orientation of the nuclear spins, translation symmetry is broken in the phonon effective theory, allowing axion absorption to create phonons with unrestricted momentum. The absorption rate is therefore proportional to the phonon density of states, which generically has support across a wide range of energies, allowing for a broadband detection scheme. We calculate the absorption rate for solid H2, D2, Al2O3, GaAs, H2O, D2O, Be and Li2O, and find that materials containing light, non-zero spin nuclei are the most promising. The predicted rates for the QCD axion are of the order of a few events / 10 kg-year exposure, setting an ambitious target for the required exposure and background suppression.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2025)080Axions and ALPsParticle Nature of Dark MatterSpecific BSM Phenomenology |
| spellingShingle | Itay M. Bloch Simon Knapen Amalia Madden Giacomo Marocco Broadband phonon production from axion absorption Journal of High Energy Physics Axions and ALPs Particle Nature of Dark Matter Specific BSM Phenomenology |
| title | Broadband phonon production from axion absorption |
| title_full | Broadband phonon production from axion absorption |
| title_fullStr | Broadband phonon production from axion absorption |
| title_full_unstemmed | Broadband phonon production from axion absorption |
| title_short | Broadband phonon production from axion absorption |
| title_sort | broadband phonon production from axion absorption |
| topic | Axions and ALPs Particle Nature of Dark Matter Specific BSM Phenomenology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2025)080 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT itaymbloch broadbandphononproductionfromaxionabsorption AT simonknapen broadbandphononproductionfromaxionabsorption AT amaliamadden broadbandphononproductionfromaxionabsorption AT giacomomarocco broadbandphononproductionfromaxionabsorption |