The Search for High-Frequency Gravitational Waves with a Modified Axion Detector

ABRACADABRA-10cm has had great success as a lumped-element axion dark matter pathfinder experiment, with two published axion searches and an extensive background investigation. Now, using the electrodynamics of gravitational waves and a simple change of pickup structures, we are using the ABRACADABR...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pappas, Kaliroë Mabelle West
Other Authors: Winslow, Lindley
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2024
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/157593
Description
Summary:ABRACADABRA-10cm has had great success as a lumped-element axion dark matter pathfinder experiment, with two published axion searches and an extensive background investigation. Now, using the electrodynamics of gravitational waves and a simple change of pickup structures, we are using the ABRACADABRA detector to search for high-frequency gravitational waves in the kHz to MHz range. These higher frequencies may indicate signs of in-spiraling primordial black holes, or other beyond the standard model phenomena. With careful calibration used to distinguish between the two signals, we introduce the first simultaneous search for both axions and gravitational waves using a lumped-element axion detector. In this thesis I will present on the high-frequency cryogenic ABRACADABRA-10cm detector, the background investigations of the detector and the design and first data from the ABRACADABRA-10cm high-frequency gravitational wave search.