2025/09/20 by Batllori, Josep Maria, Horns, Dieter, Maroudas, Marios
#FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.16725
A novel experiment is introduced to detect photon-axion conversion independent of the dark-matter hypothesis in a broad mass-range called WISP Interferometer (WINTER). The setup consists of a free-space Mach-Zehnder-type interferometer incorporating an external magnetic field and vacuum in one of the arms, where photon-axion mixing occurs via the Primakoff effect and is detected through changes in amplitude. The expected axion-induced signal is then modulated by polarization changes. The experiment is designed to integrate a Fabry-Pérot cavity with a finesse of 105 that will be operated in a vacuum environment, significantly enhancing the sensitivity. The setup is sensitive to photon-axion coupling strengths values gaγγ\gtrsim 5.5×10-15 GeV-1 for axion masses up to 84.8 μeV