Detecting meV axion dark matter: Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection (BREAD)

Axions are excellent DM candidates and would also explain why the neutron’s electric dipole moment is vanishingly small. Under an external magnetic field axions can convert to photons which can be enhanced in a resonator cavity: In a 2022 HEE seminar we discussed ADMX (Axion Dark Matter eXperiment) with sensitivity around 4µeV. Yet, about 6 orders of magnitude of higher masses, up to eV (infrared), remain unprobed, despite strong theory motivation. At these masses resonant cavities become infeasible. We present BREAD (Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection). BREAD is a novel, scalable approach to detect meV axions using a dish antenna in high-field solenoid magnets. We present first results with BREAD prototypes, including the world's first search for axion-like particles with a dish antenna, and discuss future avenues for increasing sensitivity and mass range.