Dissecting axion and dark photon with a network of vector sensors

We develop formalisms for a network of vector sensors, sensitive to certain spatial components of the signals, to identify the properties of a light axion or a dark photon background. These bosonic fields contribute to vectorlike signals in the detectors, including effective magnetic fields triggeri...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yifan Chen, Min Jiang, Jing Shu, Xiao Xue, Yanjie Zeng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2022-07-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033080
Description
Summary:We develop formalisms for a network of vector sensors, sensitive to certain spatial components of the signals, to identify the properties of a light axion or a dark photon background. These bosonic fields contribute to vectorlike signals in the detectors, including effective magnetic fields triggering the spin precession, effective electric currents in a shielded room, and forces on the matter. The interplay between a pair of vector sensors and a baseline that separates them can potentially uncover rich information of the bosons, including angular distribution, polarization modes, source localization, and macroscopic circular polarization. Using such a network, one can identify the microscopic nature of a potential signal, such as distinguishing between the axion-fermion coupling and the dipole couplings with the dark photon.
ISSN:2643-1564