First Axionlike Particle Results from a Broadband Search for Wavelike Dark Matter in the 44 to 52 μeV Range with a Coaxial Dish Antenna

Abstract

We present the results from the first axionlike particle search conducted using a dish antenna. The experiment was conducted at room temperature and sensitive to axionlike particles in the 44-52 μeV range (10.7-12.5 GHz). The novel dish antenna geometry was proposed by the BREAD Collaboration and previously used to conduct a dark photon search in the same mass range. To allow for axionlike particle sensitivity, the BREAD dish antenna was placed in a 3.9 T solenoid magnet at Argonne National Laboratory. In the presence of a magnetic field, axionlike dark matter converts to photons at the conductive surface of the reflector. The signal is focused onto a custom coaxial horn antenna and read out with a low-noise radio-frequency receiver. No evidence of axionlike dark matter was observed in this mass range and we place the most stringent laboratory constraints on the axion-photon coupling strength, g_{aγγ}, in this mass range at 90% confidence.