A Decommissioned LHC Model Magnet as an Axion Telescope
K. Zioutas, C. E. Aalseth, D. Abriola, F. T. Avignone, R. L. Brodzinski, J. I. Collar, R. Creswick, D. E. Di Gregorio, H. Farach, A. O. Gattone, C. K. Guerard, F. Hasenbalg, M. Hasinoff, H. Huck, A. Liolios, H. S. Miley, A. Morales, J. Morales, D. Nikas, S. Nussinov, A. Ortiz, E. Savvidis, S. Scopel, P. Sievers, J. A. Villar, L. Walckiers
Abstract
The 8.4 Tesla, 10 m long transverse magnetic field of a twin aperture LHC bending magnet can be utilized as a macroscopic coherent solar axion-to-photon converter. Numerical calculations show that the integrated time of alignment with the Sun would be 33 days per year with the magnet on a tracking table capable of $\pm 5^o$ in the vertical direction and $\pm 40^o$ in the horizontal direction. The existing lower bound on the axion-to-photon coupling constant can be improved by a factor between 50 and 100 in 3 years, i.e., $g_{aγγ} \lesssim 9\cdot 10^{-11} GeV^{-1}$ for axion masses $\lesssim$ 1 eV. This value falls within the existing open axion mass window. The same set-up can simultaneously search for low- and high-energy celestial axions, or axion-like particles, scanning the sky as the Earth rotates and orbits the Sun.