Establishing an axion experiment in Korea

Abstract

The axion is an attractive dark-matter candidate motivated by the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong-CP problem in nuclear physics. The main research goals of the Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research (CAPP) of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) are to establish a state-of-the-art axion experiment in Korea and to search for relic axion particles that are converting to microwave photons in resonant cavities submerged in strong magnetic fields. The initial stage of construction for our axion experiment, the CAPP Ultra-Low-Temperature Axion Search in Korea (CULTASK) at the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST) Munji Campus, has been completed and involved the successful installation of two new dilution refrigerators (one with an 8 T superconducting magnet) with the capability of cooling the cavities to less than 50 mK. We present our ongoing R&D efforts and discuss our future plans. © 2016, Korean Physical Society. All rights reserved