Regular Article

The OVAL experiment: a new experiment to measure vacuum magnetic birefringence using high repetition pulsed magnets

¹ Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
² International Center for Elementary Particle Physics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
³ Institute for Photon Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
⁴ Photon Science Center (PSC), The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8658, Japan
⁵ The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8581, Japan
⁶ Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan

^a e-mail: xfan@icepp.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Received: 28 April 2017
Received in final form: 19 July 2017
Published online: 23 November 2017

Abstract

A new experiment to measure vacuum magnetic birefringence (VMB), the OVAL experiment, is reported. We developed an original pulsed magnet that has a high repetition rate and applies the strongest magnetic field among VMB experiments online. The vibration isolation design and feedback system enable the direct combination of the magnet with a Fabry-Pérot cavity. To demonstrate and benchmark the searching potential, a calibration measurement with dilute nitrogen gas and a prototype search for VMB are performed. Based on the results, a strategy to observe VMB is reported.