Quantum Sensing for Axion Dark Matter at QUAX-LNL

Speaker: Danho Ahn

Affiliation: INFN Sezione di Padova

Abstract: The QUAX (QUaerere AXion) experiment searches for axion dark matter in the 35–45 μeV mass range using complementary cavity haloscopes at INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics) Legnaro and Frascati in Italy. This talk will focus on the Padova/Legnaro haloscope, which has reached near-KSVZ sensitivity above 40 μeV. The experiment utilizes a tunable, dielectric ring loaded copper cavity in an 8 T magnetic field and a quantum-limited readout chain based on a TWPA (traveling-wave parametric amplifier). Ongoing R&D on transmon-based single microwave photon detector readout will also be presented.