Colloquia and Events

FALL 2026 WEEKLY COLLOQUIUM SERIES

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2026 2:55 PM Pizza & Drinks 3:05 PM–4:20 PM Talk Biological Sciences Room 247 Zoom Link

Conquering the High-Frequency Axion Range

Dr. Yannis Semertzidis  

Institute for Basic Science’s Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research, South Korea

ABSTRACT

The axion offers a compelling solution to two fundamental mysteries: why the strong nuclear interaction appears to respect time-reversal symmetry, and what makes up the dark matter of the Universe. In a strong magnetic field, dark-matter axions can convert into an extraordinarily faint microwave signal, making their detection a challenge at the frontier of precision measurement. I will describe how the Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research (CAPP) in South Korea combined high-field magnets, ultralow temperatures, high-quality microwave cavities, and quantum-limited amplifiers to reach the sensitivity required to probe the benchmark DFSZ axion model. Building on these achievements, I will discuss a strategy for extending the search to higher frequencies, where shrinking cavity volumes and quantum noise pose increasingly severe challenges. The proposed approach combines large-volume resonator systems with a new electro-optic readout concept, CARAMEL, and the prospect of quantum-enhanced detection. I will outline the developments needed to turn these ideas into a practical search across a largely unexplored axion mass range.

BIOSKETCH

Yannis K. Semertzidis is the founding director of the Institute for Basic Science’s Center for Axion and Precision Physics Research (IBS-CAPP) in South Korea, which he led from 2013 through 2024, and a former professor of physics at KAIST. Previously, he was a tenured senior scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Under his leadership, CAPP grew into an internationally recognized center for axion dark-matter searches, bringing together high-field magnets, ultralow-temperature technology, high-quality microwave resonators, and quantum-limited amplifiers. The program achieved sensitivity to the benchmark DFSZ axion model over 1 GHz for an extended frequency range—a major milestone in the search for dark matter.

His research also spans precision measurements of the muon’s magnetic moment and the development of storage-ring experiments to search for the proton’s electric dipole moment. He is the founder of Innovative Solutions R&D LLC, pursuing new approaches to sensitive electromagnetic detection, axion searches, and nondestructive beam polarimetry.

Fall 2026 Colloquium Schedule 

(will be updated throughout the semester)

Meets every Thursday in Biological Sciences Room 247

2:55 PM Pizza & Drinks  ·  3:05 PM–4:20 PM Talk

Archived access to the Zoom recording of Dr. Caitlin Duffy's talk from October 9, 2025, "When Metals Become Strange"

Click Here for Access

Note: You will be prompted to login to Zoom; use passcode: 0#U@FS5$