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“The Search for Axions”

Date:

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Time:

Monday, 05. Dec 2016

Video-Recording for any system with MP4-support

- Video.mp4 (ca.432 Mb)

13:15 – 14:20

Pierre Sikivie (University of Florida)

Abstract :

The axion is a hypothetical particle proposed, almost 40 years ago, to explain why the

strong interactions are P and CP invariant. Additional motivation for its existence is due

to the fact that a cold population of axions is naturally produced in the early universe.

These cold axions may constitute the dark matter today. I'll briefly review the limits on

the axion from particle physics, stellar evolution and cosmology. The various constraints

suggest that the axion mass is in the micro-eV to milli-eV range. In this range, its

interactions are so weak that the axion was once thought invisible.

Nonetheless a number of methods have been proposed to search for so-called "invisible"

axions. I'll describe these techniques, the experiments that have implemented them, and

the results that have been obtained so far.