You are all invited to participate in the BiCoQ seminar “The Search for Axion Dark Matter and High Frequency Gravitational Waves with Acoustic and Microwave Cavities“
Speaker: Professor Michael Tobar (The University of Western Australia)
Abstract: The Quantum Technologies and Dark Matter (QDM) Lab develops ultra-sensitive resonant detection technologies to explore physics beyond the Standard Model. Two key current frontiers we are targeting include: high-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs) in the MHz–GHz range, and axion wave-like dark matter, motivated by string theory and the strong CP problem. We engineer and deploy high-Q microwave and acoustic resonators, operated at cryogenic temperatures, to transduce weak signals into measurable shifts in frequency or power. For HFGW detection, we employ mechanically and electromagnetically coupled cavities, including quartz piezoelectric platforms, designed to respond to incident HFGW strain (MAGE) [1,2]. In the axion sector, we implement haloscope-style detectors (ORGAN, ORGAN-Q, UPLOAD) and novel geometries that enhance coupling to axion-induced effective currents [3-7]. Recent advances include the ORGAN-Q experiment, which is currently near quantum limited [4] and will be implemented with a squeezed out put in the near future, and the first operation of MAGE which has set new limit on primordial black holes [1]. These platforms can also be leveraged to test Lorentz invariance, quantum gravity, and variation of fundamental constants.
References:
[1] WM Campbell, L Mariani, ME Tobar, M Goryachev, Experimental Exclusion of Planetary Mass Primordial Black Hole Mergers, Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 135, 251402, 2025..
[2] W Campbell, M Goryachev, ME Tobar, "The Multi-mode Acoustic Gravitational Wave Experiment: MAGE", Sci Rep 13, 10638, 2023.
[3] A Quiskamp, BT McAllister, P Altin, EN Ivanov, M Goryachev, ME Tobar, “Direct search for dark matter axions excluding ALP cogenesis in the 63- to 67-μeV range with the ORGAN experiment,” Science Advances, vol. 8., no. 7, eabq3765, 2022.
[4] AP Quiskamp, GR Flower, S Samuels, BT McAllister, P Altin, EN Ivanov, M Goryachev, ME Tobar, “Near-quantum-limited axion dark matter search with the ORGAN experiment around 26 μeV,” Phys. Rev. D, vol. 111, 095007, 2025.
[5] A Quiskamp, BT McAllister, P Altin, EN Ivanov, M Goryachev, ME Tobar, “Exclusion of ALP Cogenesis Dark Matter in a Mass Window Above 100 μeV,” Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 132, 03160, 2024.
[6] CA Thomson, M Goryachev, BT McAllister, EN Ivanov, P Altin, ME Tobar, “Searching for low-mass axions using resonant upconversion,” Phys. Rev. D, vol. 107, 112003, 2023.
[7] JF Bourhill, ECI. Paterson, M Goryachev, ME Tobar, “Searching for ultralight axions with twisted cavity resonators of anyon rotational symmetry with bulk modes of nonzero helicity,” PRD, 108:052014, 2023.
[8] WM Campbell, ME Tobar, S Galliou, M Goryachev, “Improved Constraints on the Minimum Length with a Macroscopic Low Loss Phonon Cavity,” Phys. Rev D, vol. 108, 102006, 2023
Date/Time: Tuesday, 27 January 2026, 11:30
Location: U2-08a
Indico: https://indico.global/event/16700/