Speaker
Description
The DMRadio program is developing a suite of experiments to probe QCD axions in the sub-1 μeV mass range, a dark matter candidate with implications for grand unified theories and pre-inflationary cosmology. The first of these, DMRadio-50L, is undergoing commissioning and targets axion dark matter masses corresponding to frequencies from 5 kHz to 5 MHz. Accessing this low-mass QCD axion regime poses unique experimental challenges, requiring high-field magnets, ultra-sensitive superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) readout, high-Q lumped-element resonators, and sophisticated data analysis techniques. I will present first commissioning data from DMRadio-50L including measurements of the systems cryogenic performance. I will also discuss future machine learning-driven denoising techniques, originally developed for the ABRACADABRA experiment, and their potential application to enhance sensitivity in axion searches.