The Next Generation of Axion Helioscopes: The International Axion Observatory (IAXO)

Vogel, J. K.; Armengaud, E.; Avignone, F. T.; Betz, M.; Brax, P.; Brun, P.; Cantatore, Giovanni; Carmona, J. M.; Carosi, G. P.; Caspers, F.; Caspi, S.; Cetin, S. A.; Chelouche, D.; Christensen, F. E.; Dael, A.; Dafni, T.; Davenport, M.; Derbin, A. V.; Desch, K.; Diago, A.; Döbrich, B.; Dratchnev, I.; Dudarev, A.; Eleftheriadis, C.; Fanourakis, G.; Ferrer Ribas, E.; Galán, J.; García, J. A.; Garza, J. G.; Geralis, T.; Gimeno, B.; Giomataris, I.; Gninenko, S.; Gómez, H.; González Díaz, D.; Guendelman, E.; Hailey, C. J.; Hiramatsu, T.; Hoffmann, D. H. H.; Horns, D.; Iguaz, F. J.; Irastorza, I. G.; Isern, J.; Imai, K.; Jakobsen, A. C.; Jaeckel, J.; Jakovčić, K.; Kaminski, J.; Kawasaki, M.; Karuza, M.; Krčmar, M.; Kousouris, K.; Krieger, C.; Lakić, B.; Limousin, O.; Lindner, A.; Liolios, A.; Luzón, G.; Matsuki, S.; Muratova, V. N.; Nones, C.; Ortega, I.; Papaevangelou, T.; Pivovaroff, M. J.; Raffelt, G.; Redondo, J.; Ringwald, A.; Russenschuck, S.; Ruz, J.; Saikawa, K.; Savvidis, I.; Sekiguchi, T.; Semertzidis, Y. K.; Shilon, I.; Sikivie, P.; Silva, H.; ten Kate, H.; Tomas, A.; Troitsky, S.; Vafeiadis, T.; van Bibber, K.; Vedrine, P.; Villar, J. A.; Walckiers, L.; Weltman, A.; Wester, W.; Yildiz, S. C.; Zioutas, K.

doi:10.1016/j.phpro.2014.12.031

The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a proposed 4th-generation axion helioscope with the primary physics research goal to search for solar axions via their Primakoff conversion into photons of 1 – 10 keV energies in a strong magnetic field. IAXO will achieve a sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling gaγ down to a few ×10−12 GeV−1 for a wide range of axion masses up to ∼ 0.25 eV. This is an improvement over the currently best (3rd generation) axion helioscope, the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), of about 5 orders of magnitude in signal strength, corresponding to a factor ∼ 20 in the axion photon coupling. IAXO's sensitivity relies on the construction of a large superconducting 8-coil toroidal magnet of 20 m length optimized for axion research. Each of the eight 60 cm diameter magnet bores is equipped with x-ray optics focusing the signal photons into ∼ 0.2 cm2 spots that are imaged by very low background x-ray detectors. The magnet will be built into a structure with elevation and azimuth drives that will allow solar tracking for 12 hours each day. This contribution is a summary of our papers [1], [2] and [3] and we refer to these for further details.