Speaker
Description
Light Dark Matter candidates have increasingly come under the focus of scientific interest. In particular the QCD axion is also able to solve other fundamental problems such as CP-conservation in strong interactions. Galactic axions and axion-like particles can be converted to photons at boundaries between materials of different dielectric constants under a strong magnetic field. Combining many such surfaces, one can enhance this conversion significantly using constructive interference and resonances. The proposed MADMAX setup containing 80 high dielectric disks in a 10 T magnetic field could probe the well-motivated mass range of $40-400 \, \mu {\rm eV}$, a range which is at present inaccessible by existing cavity searches. The experimental idea and the proposed design of MADMAX will be discussed. Among recent R&D results from finite element simulations and proof-of-principle prototype measurements, the prospects of reaching sensitivity to the QCD axion will be presented.
