IEEE Sensors Talk on "The Hunt for Dark Matter Axions"
IEEE Sensors Council of Richland Chapter presents a Technical Talk on the Title "The Hunt for Dark Matter Axions" by Christian Boutan
Abstract: “The discovery of a hypothetical elementary particle called the axion could simultaneously solve deep mysteries in quantum chromodynamics and cosmology. The Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) is a DoE "Generation 2" direct-detection dark matter project searching for the resonant conversion of axions to photons in a tunable, high-Q microwave cavity surrounded by a strong magnetic field. Over the last decade, ADMX has undergone multiple upgrades and is now operating with unprecedented sensitivity, able to discover or rule out even the most pessimistically coupled DFSZ QCD axions. I will motivate the axion as a dark matter candidate, present an overview of ADMX, discuss recent results, and outline my own plans to combat foreseen challenges on the continued hunt for the elusive axion."
Date and Time
Location
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Registration
- Date: 15 Nov 2023
- Time: 01:45 AM UTC to 03:00 AM UTC
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- WSU Tri-Cities
- Richland, Washington
- United States 99354
- Building: BSEL
- Room Number: 103
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Organized by IEEE Sensors Council - Richland Chapter Section
- Starts 08 November 2023 07:31 PM UTC
- Ends 14 November 2023 08:00 PM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Christian Boutan of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Biography:
Christian Boutan is a hands-on experimental physicist with experience in axion dark matter physics, quantum sensing, low-temperature instrumentation, radio-frequency engineering, and digital/analog circuits. Boutan has been a key member of the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) collaboration since 2011, and was part of the core team that built and commissioned the U.S. Department of Energy’s "Gen 2" flagship direct-detection axion dark matter experiment that set the world’s first limits on Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky axions.In 2014, Boutan spearheaded a secondary high-frequency pathfinder axion search, the ADMX Sidecar, that set new limits on axion-photon coupling and doubled as an ADMX research and development platform for testing new technologies. He serves as the collaboration’s publications and presentations coordinator and chairs bi-weekly meetings devoted to designing future incarnations of the experiment.Since accepting a position as a staff scientist, Boutan has focused on establishing Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a leader in the axion physics field and on combining PNNL core strengths to grow a milikelvin microwave quantum sensing capability. With this new testbed, Boutan demonstrated the operation of superconducting qubits in 2022. Boutan enjoys blazing trails, solving problems, learning new things, getting his hands dirty, and learning about our remarkable universe.
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Agenda
Free Pizza Will be Provided
Pizza at 5.45 PM and Talk at 6 PM