Researchers at the Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Krakow have developed a novel method to search for axions and axion-like particles using particle accelerators. A description of the UJ researchers’ research, with its contribution to the understanding of what dark matter is, has been published in the prestigious journal Physical Review X.

The experiment was carried out by the JEDI (Juelich Electric Dipole moment Investigations) group using the COSY synchrotron at the Forschungszentrum Juelich in Germany. The project involved researchers from the Jagiellonian University’s Department of Hadron Physics: Prof Andrzej Magiera, Dr Aleksandra Wronska and PhD student Swathi Karanth, who analysed the data as part of her PhD project.

Although no resonance signals indicating the presence of axions were observed in the experiment, the study established new constraints on the permanent coupling of the interaction of axions or axion-like particles with ordinary matter. The research paves new paths in the search for axions and the understanding of dark matter. The study paves new paths in the search for axions and the understanding of what dark matter is.

Read more: 

https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.031004