First observation and analysis of DANCE: Dark matter Axion search with riNg Cavity Experiment

Abstract

Dark matter Axion search with riNg Cavity Experiment (DANCE) was proposed to search for axion dark matter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 161301 (2018)]. We aim to detect the rotation and oscillation of optical linear polarization caused by axion-photon coupling with a bow-tie cavity. DANCE can improve the sensitivity to axion-photon coupling constant gaγ for axion mass ma < 10 −10 eV by several orders of magnitude compared to the best upper limits at present. A prototype experiment DANCE Act-1 is ongoing to demonstrate the feasibility of the method and to investigate technical noises. The optics was assembled and the performance of the cavity was evaluated. The first 12-day observation was successfully performed in May 2021. We reached 3 × 10 −6 rad/ √ Hz at 10 Hz in the one-sided amplitude spectral density of the rotation angle of linear polarization.