Search for galactic axions with a traveling wave parametric amplifier

Abstract

A traveling wave parametric amplifier has been integrated in the haloscope of the QUAX experiment. A search for dark matter axions has been performed with a high-$Q$ dielectric cavity immersed in an 8 T magnetic field and read by a detection chain having a system noise temperature of about 2.1 K at the frequency of 10.353 GHz. Scanning has been conducted by varying the cavity frequency using sapphire rods immersed into the cavity. At multiple operating frequencies, the sensitivity of the instrument was at the level of viable axion models.