How (Not) to Probe the Axion-Electron Coupling

by Dr Kevin Zhou (UC Berkeley & Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Thursday 17 Jul 2025, 10:30 → 11:30 Asia/Shanghai

B105 (CHEP)

Most axion dark matter experiments search for the axion's coupling to photons, but the axion also acts directly on electrons. Designing experiments sensitive to this coupling presents some theoretical subtleties. Many strong signatures claimed in the literature are actually unphysical artifacts of description, and many real signatures are not effective in practice, e.g. due to material shielding effects. Nonetheless, there are new experimental concepts which can achieve strong sensitivity. In particular, I will describe how a "magnetized multilayer" experiment could probe the QCD axion at meV masses, complementing existing proposals sensitive to the axion-photon coupling.

Bio：
Kevin Zhou is a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, based at the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics. His research centers on developing novel precision experiments to explore physics beyond the Standard Model, with a particular focus on ultralight dark matter detection. He also investigates more speculative ideas, including possible modifications to long-range forces involving continuous spin.
Kevin received his Ph.D. in Physics from Stanford University in 2024, following Master’s degrees from both Cambridge and Oxford. In addition to his research, he has long been active in physics education and outreach, and remains passionate about engaging with challenging physics puzzles.

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