Sensitive Laser Experiment Searches for Dark Matter Particles
The ALPS II experiment, designed to detect axionic dark matter, could expose particles responsible for dark matter. The experiment involves a wall that light cannot pass through, but an axion could. If light shows up on the far side of the experiment, it would indicate that a photon turned into an axion, transitted the wall, and reverted to a photon. The experiment will begin its search in an “attenuated operating mode” and is expected to reach full sensitivity later this year. The first data from the experiment is expected in 2024.