Toward laboratory discovery of axion dark matter

July 29th, 2:00 PM-3:00 PM (ET)

The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion, originally proposed as a solution to the strong CP problem, and more general axion-like particles are among the best-motivated candidates for dark matter. Their connections to high-scale physics, including grand unification and string theory, make them especially compelling targets for discovery. As ultralight particles, axions exhibit intrinsically wave-like phenomenology, requiring search strategies that differ qualitatively from those used for conventional particle dark matter. In this talk, I will discuss recent progress toward probing axion dark matter with precision laboratory experiments, beginning with the approach pioneered by the ABRACADABRA collaboration and now being advanced by the CAL experiment. I will also describe how quantum metrology and machine learning may provide new routes to accelerating these searches.

Joshua Foster

Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin

Joshua Foster is an Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, joining the faculty in August 2025. His research focuses on dark matter detection and gravitational wave astrophysics, including using lunar laser ranging data to search for gravitational waves and searching for radio signals from axions near neutron stars. He earned his PhD from the University of Michigan and joined MIT as a Pappalardo Fellow in the Center for Theoretical Physics, then Fermilab as a Schramm Fellow in Theoretical Astrophysics before joining UW–Madison.

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