Axion or Axion-like particles Search using CsI detector with Reactor, Beam, and Radioactive Sources.

Understanding Dark Matter, which makes up over 85% of the universe's matter content, is a key goal in particle physics. Promising candidates for dark matter include axions and axion-like particles (ALPs). Axions arising from CP-symmetry conserving fields in strong interactions, while ALPs, arise from other symmetries. Having weak interaction with normal matter makes them strong candidates for Dark Matter.

Our research aims to detect ALPs by observing their conversion into gamma rays. We have developed a scintillation detector using thallium-doped cesium iodide (CsI(Tl)), which can capture these gamma rays and support the search for ALPs. In this presentation, I will first review previous work that searched for ALPs using gamma rays from a nuclear reactor. I will then present my research on ALP production from gamma rays emitted by a 46Sc radioactive source. This has the further advantage of allowing the search for other dark matter candidates, such as scalar dark matter, dark photons, and lightly ionizing particles, alongside ALPs. Finally, I will discuss the future applications of this detector, including its use at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for further axion searches in a proton beam environment, and at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where it will be placed near a nuclear reactor 100 times stronger than the one at Texas A&M. By positioning the detector near powerful gamma-ray sources, we aim to increase our chances of detecting ALPs despite their weak interactions.