First Search for Axionlike Particles in a Storage Ring Using a Polarized Deuteron Beam

Based on the notion that the local dark-matter field of axions or axionlike particles (ALPs) in our Galaxy induces oscillating couplings to the spins of nucleons and nuclei (via the electric dipole moment of the latter and/or the paramagnetic axion-wind effect), we establish the feasibility of a new method to search for ALPs in storage rings. Based on previous work that allows us to maintain the in-plane polarization of a stored deuteron beam for a few hundred seconds, we perform a first proof-of-principle experiment at the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) to scan momenta near 970 MeV=c. This entails a scan of the spin-precession frequency. At resonance between the spin-precession frequency of deuterons and the ALP-induced electric dipole moment (EDM) oscillation frequency, there is an accumulation of the polarization component out of the ring plane. Since the axion frequency is unknown, the momentum of the beam and, consequently, the spin-precession frequency are ramped to search for a vertical polarization change that occurs when the resonance is crossed. At COSY, four beam bunches with different polarization directions are used to make sure that no resonance is missed because of the unknown relative phase between the polarization precession and the axion or ALP field. A frequency window of 1.5 kHz width around the spin-precession frequency of 121 kHz is scanned. We describe the experimental procedure and a test of the methodology with the help of a radio-frequency Wien filter located on the COSY ring. No ALP resonance is observed. As a consequence, an upper limit of the oscillating EDM component of the deuteron as well as its axion coupling constants are provided.