February 5, 2024: Lindley Winslow

The Search for Wavy Dark Matter: Axions ABRACADABRA to DMRadio

Abstract
The particle nature of dark matter remains one of the great open questions in physics. There is a broad category of candidates whose mass is so light that they behave more as waves than as particles. The most well-known is the axion, which has had a renaissance as a dark matter candidate as theoretical studies have improved our understanding of axion cosmology and advances in quantum sensing and cryogenics have opened new opportunities for detection. In this talk, I will present an overview of the field of wavy dark matter and with a focus on my work to realize a definitive search for GUT-scale axions with the DMRadio program and the ABRACADABRA demonstrator.