CERN Accelerating science

This article was originally published on home.cern

Long-hypothesised particles called axions could solve two problems in one strike: they could explain the puzzling symmetry properties of the strong force and they could make up the mysterious dark matter that permeates the cosmos. One of the newest detectors of the CAST experiment at CERN, RADES, has now joined the worldwide hunt for axions, searching for axions from the Milky Way’s “halo” of dark matter and setting a limit on the strength of their interaction with photons. The results are described in a paper submitted for publication in the Journal of High Energy Physics.

One way of searching for axions from the Milky Way’s dark-matter halo is to look for their conversion into photons in a “resonating cavity”. If such axions surround and enter a resonating cavity that is placed in a strong magnetic field and resonates at a frequency corresponding to their mass, the chances of detecting them through their conversion into photons are increased.

Many experiments have used this search method and set limits on the interaction strength of axions with two photons in the case of small axion masses, mainly below 25 µeV (for comparison, the proton mass is about 1 GeV). Searching for larger axion masses using this approach requires a smaller cavity resonating at a higher frequency, but the smaller volume of a smaller cavity decreases the chances of spotting the particles.

A workaround involves dividing the cavity into smaller cavities that resonate at a higher frequency and collectively don’t result in a loss of cavity volume. This is exactly the concept behind the RADES detector, which was installed inside one of CAST’s dipole magnet bores in 2018 and can search for axions from the Milky Way’s dark-matter halo that have a mass of around 34.67 µeV.

Researchers are developing complementary approaches to searching for axions, and some have searched for larger-mass axions using new cavity designs and placed limits on their interaction strength with two photons. But the best limit so far for an axion mass of 34.67 µeV was placed by CAST’s previous searches for axions from the Sun.

In its latest paper, the CAST team describes the results of the first RADES search for axions. Sifting through data taken for more than 100 hours within a period of 20 days in 2018, the team saw no signs of axions. However, the data places a limit on the interaction strength of axions with two photons in the case of axions with a mass of or close to 34.67 µeV – a limit that is more than 100 times more stringent than CAST’s previous best limit for this mass.

“This result is a significant first step in the direct search for axions using dipole magnets,” says RADES scientist Sergio Arguedas Cuendis. “And as far as axion searches go, it’s one of the most stringent limits ever set for axions with masses above 25 µeV.”

If the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) project were a big tree, the QUACO (QUAdrupole Corrector) project would be one of its branches. The project aimed to produce two first-of-a-kind quadrupoles magnets (MQYY) for the HL-LHC upgrades. Coordinated by Marcello Losasso, physicist working for the Knowledge Transfer Group at CERN, and launched in 2016, QUACO is part of the HL-LHC Insertion Region (IR) Magnets work package, being co-funded by the European Commission under Grant Agreement No. 689359.

Quadrupole magnets in the LHC are used to focus the beam at key points in the tunnel. Both dipole and quadrupole magnets need to match the increased beam luminosity in the LHC. The MQYY is a 90-mm-aperture quadrupole magnet with a magnetic length of 3.67 metres and an operating gradient of 120 T/m at 1.9K. In the context of QUACO, innovative techniques were investigated for the design and manufacturing of these magnets. Among them are robotised winding, design parametrisation, Bladder and Keys (B&K) and special shrink-fitted collars. These techniques were employed to achieve the proper level of pre-stress at the winding packs, while maintaining the magnetic field quality as required by the LHC specifications. In one of the last HL-LHC reviews, the collaboration removed the magnets from the project for budget reasons. Nevertheless, they could still end up in the tunnel one day.

QUACO was the first Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) scheme adopted in the accelerator sector, entailing a gradual and collaborative approach to procurement in accelerator research and development. The collaborative aspect means it was a joint effort of different European laboratories (CERN, CEA, CIEMAT and NCBJ); the gradual aspect means its development took place in three successive phases: defining the conceptual solution, producing the engineering design, and the manufacturing of a prototype. The passage from one stage to the next was a competitive exercise, curtailing the number of companies initially engaged to the two remaining in the last phase of the project: Elytt and SigmaPhi.

The Elytt magnet arrived at CERN in early March 2021; soon after, magnetic measurements were performed to characterise the magnetic field quality, led by the Magnets, Superconductors and Cryogenics (MSC) group within the Technology (TE) department at CERN. The SigmaPhi magnet has arrived at CERN as recently as June, in time for some field characterisation to be performed before the official end of the project on 30 June 2021. Out of the scope of QUACO, both the Elytt and SigmaPhi magnets will be shipped to CEA for cryogenic tests during the summer of 2021.

The teams at CERN and other laboratories are now busy completing the documentation and finalising the reports for the final project review, which will assess the results of the PCP.

According to the project coordinator Marcello Losasso, QUACO project paved the way for academia-industry partnerships by engaging small companies in complex and risky R&D projects, deploying an effective Technology Transfer methodology, from different laboratories to industry, therefore enlarging the European industrial capacity in the accelerator sector.

To know more about the MQYY, find the paper on the ‘Development of MQYY’ here.

This project has received funding from the European Commission under Grant Agreement No 689359. CERN and the European Commission have established collaboration activities in areas such as research and e-infrastructures, international cooperation, careers and mobility of researchers, knowledge transfer and open access. Cooperation with the EU is coordinated by the CERN EU Projects Office.

“With 110 projects and 74 M€ of corresponding funding from the European Commission (EC), CERN has been one of the most successful international organisations in Horizon 2020 (H2020)”, says Svet Stavrev, Section Leader for EU Project Management and Operational Support in the IPT Department. “H2020 was the previous EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, which ran from 2014 to 2020. It is followed by Horizon Europe which started in 2021”.

Which were the most successful programmes for CERN in H2020?

80% of the projects and 85% of the EC funding for CERN in H2020 came from its Excellence Science pillar. Under this pillar, CERN had a very strong track record with grants coming from the different programmes:

• The European Research Council (ERC), which provided support for top-level CERN researchers to perform frontier research;
• Marie-Sklodowska-Curie actions, which provided valuable training and work experience for 100 young scientists and engineers in different fields of science and technology;
• E-infrastructure projects, which provided support for grid and cloud computing and related IT services and platforms;
• Research infrastructure projects, which provided support for accelerator and detector R&D, innovation actions, and future projects in Particle Physics.

Apart from receiving funds, how does CERN benefit from its participation in EU projects?

EU projects provide complementary support to the main R&D programmes of the Organisation, and to other activities such as innovation and technology transfer for industrial and societal applications (e.g. medical technologies and use of accelerators outside of Particle Physics). They also allow CERN to recruit and boost the careers of a large number of young scientists and engineers, from technical student to post-doc and early career level, most of whom leave CERN afterwards and pursue a career in industry or research.

EU projects provide a collaborative framework for strengthening and developing new links with academic and industrial partners from the CERN Member States and beyond: in total, CERN collaborated with 800 partners from 57 countries through H2020 projects, out of which 487 were academic organisations and 223 industrial companies.

What can CERN expect from Horizon Europe, the new EU Framework for Research and Innovation?

All programmes in which CERN has had a traditional strong participation, will be continued and/or expanded in the new Framework Programme. Horizon Europe will be a very competitive programme, but we expect CERN to continue to have high success rates with ERC Grants, Marie-Curie actions, e-infrastructure and research infrastructure projects.

We can expect support for breakthrough research, innovative detector and accelerator technologies, knowledge transfer projects for development of applications outside of particle physics, and continued EC support for accelerator and detector collaborative programmes, as well as for new projects such as the Future Circular Collider (FCC).

In order to continue this successful streak, we need a constant inflow of people with new ideas: if you are considering EU funding for your R&D projects, please do not hesitate to contact the EU Projects Office for advice and support with your proposals.

Over one hundred Horizon Europe 2021-2022 calls have been identified by CERN’s EU Projects Office as of potential interest for the organisation. In order to give you a flavour of what’s in there for you, the Office has handpicked a selection of interesting ones for 2022 as outlined below.

From quantum-resistant cryptography to advanced robotics, from two-dimensional materials to extreme data mining, the highlighted calls carry opportunities for CERN, for your research and for your career. Furthermore, they display the full diversity of what can be the purpose of an EU project: fundamental research of course, but also societal applications and market opportunities.

If your research topic is not covered in the table below,

• check the full list curated by the CERN’s EU Projects Office here;
• and/or browse the European Commission portal for an overview of all the calls.

Applying to a call is a specific art to achieve success and for this reason, the Office has set up a training to help CERN teams understand what is an EU Project, how they work and, more especially, how to apply to one. This training also provides information about the structure, content and novelties of Horizon Europe, the new EU framework programme for research and innovation.

Starting in November 2021, the “EU Projects @ CERN” newsletter will provide readers with a quarterly digest of news about European projects in which CERN is involved.

Each issue will focus on a specific topic related to European projects: the creation of project consortia, the search for suitable funding, etc.

The newsletter will not only provide information on EU support services and resources at CERN, but also particulars on deadlines and funding opportunities, such as open or upcoming calls for proposals of potential interest to CERN.

“With the revamped publication of our newsletter, we aim to display the diversity of European projects at CERN and to further encourage CERN teams to participate in the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation,” explains Svetlomir Stavrev, Section Leader for EU Project Management and Operational Support. “The newsletter will also show how European projects contribute to the R&D programmes and objectives of the Organization.”

CERN’s long-standing cooperation with the European Commission is based on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two parties in 2009, and on the very successful participation of CERN in the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation (100 projects in FP7 and 110 projects in H2020).

Subscribe to the newsletter by joining this e-group.

On 6 October 2021, CERN was pleased to host a visit of Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. The Commissioner was welcomed by the Director-General, who introduced the activities of the Organisation and the plans for future projects in particle physics.

After a visit to the ATLAS Experiment and an exchange with the Directorate during lunch, Mariya Gabriel met a group of young scientists and engineers from all 27 EU member states, working at CERN. The lively discussion covered diverse topics such as gender equality in research and innovation, attracting more girls in STEM, EU support for careers of young scientists and young innovators, and the importance and role of science communication.

In a wrap-up meeting at the end of her visit, the Commissioner discussed with the Directorate the participation of CERN to the Horizon 2020 programme and in particular the EU projects that support the use of CERN technologies outside of particle physics in areas such as health, energy and environment. Were also mentioned CERN’s approach to knowledge transfer and intellectual property, co-innovation between research infrastructures and European industry, and the role of procurement for innovative businesses as CERN suppliers.

The visit of the Commissioner contributes to strengthening the excellent relations of CERN with the European Commission, which are based on a memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides in 2009, and on a very successful participation of CERN in the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation (100 projects in FP7 and 110 projects in H2020).