Experimental Searches for the Axion and Axion-Like Particles

Four decades after its prediction, the axion remains the most compelling solution to the strong-CP problem and a well-motivated dark matter candidate, inspiring a host of elegant and ultrasensitive experiments based on axion–photon mixing. This article reviews the experimental situation on several fronts. The microwave cavity experiment is making excellent progress in the search for dark matter axions in the μeV range and may plausibly be extended up to 100 μeV. Within the past several years, however, researchers have realized that axions are pervasive throughout string theories, but with masses that fall naturally in the neV range, for which an NMR-based search is under development. Both searches for axions…