High-sensitivity total-field atomic magnetometer enables brain-activity measurements in unshielded Earth’s field.

We report the results of a search for axionlike dark matter using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. This search is part of the multifaceted Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment program. In order to distinguish axionlike dark matter from magnetic fields, we employ a comagnetometry scheme measuring ultralow-field NMR signals involving two different nuclei (${}^{13}\mathrm{C}$ and ${}^1\mathrm{H}$) in a liquid-state sample of acetonitrile-2-${}^{13}\mathrm{C}$ (${}^{13}\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{H}}_3\mathrm{CN}$). No axionlike dark matter signal was detected above the background. This result constrains the parameter space describing the coupling of the gradient of the axionlike dark matter field to nucleons to be $g_{aNN}<6\times {10}^{-5}{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$ (95% confidence level) for particle masses ranging from ${10}^{-22}\mathrm{eV}$ to $1.3\times {10}^{-17}\mathrm{eV}$, improving over previous laboratory limits for masses below ${10}^{-21}\mathrm{eV}$. The result also constrains the coupling of nuclear spins to the gradient of the square of the axionlike dark matter field, improving over astrophysical limits by orders of magnitude over the entire range of particle masses probed.

The nature of dark matter, the invisible substance making up over 80% of the matter in the universe, is one of the most fundamental mysteries of modern physics. Ultralight bosons such as axions, axion-like particles, or dark photons could make up most of the dark matter. Couplings between such bosons and nuclear spins may enable their direct detection via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy: As nuclear spins move through the galactic dark-matter halo, they couple to dark matter and behave as if they were in an oscillating magnetic field, generating a dark-matter–driven NMR signal. As part of the cosmic axion spin precession experiment (CASPEr), an NMR-based dark-matter search, we use ultralow-field NMR to probe the axion-fermion “wind” coupling and dark-photon couplings to nuclear spins. No dark matter signal was detected above background, establishing new experimental bounds for dark matter bosons with masses ranging from 1.8 × 10⁻¹⁶ to 7.8 × 10⁻¹⁴ eV.

The cosmic axion spin precession experiment (CASPEr) is a nuclear magnetic resonance experiment (NMR) seeking to detect axion and axion-like particles which could make up the dark matter present in the Universe. We review the predicted couplings of axions and axion-like particles with baryonic matter that enable their detection via NMR. We then describe two measurement schemes being implemented in CASPEr. The first method, presented in the original CASPEr proposal, consists of a resonant search via continuous-wave NMR spectroscopy. This method offers the highest sensitivity for frequencies ranging from a few Hz to hundreds of MHz, corresponding to masses m a ∼ 10 − 14 – 10 − 6 eV. Sub-Hz frequencies are typically difficult to probe with NMR due to the diminishing sensitivity of magnetometers in this region. To circumvent this limitation, we suggest new detection and data processing modalities. We describe a non-resonant frequency-modulation detection scheme, enabling searches from mHz to Hz frequencies ( m a ∼ 10 − 17 – 10 − 14 eV), extending the detection bandwidth by three decades.

Magnetocardiography (MCG), which uses high-sensitivity magnetometers to record magnetic field signals generated by electrical activity in the heart, is a noninvasive method for evaluating heart diseases such as arrhythmia and ischemia. The MCG measurements usually require the participant keeping still in a magnetically shielded room due to the immovable sensor and noisy external environments. These requirements limit MCG applications, such as exercise MCG tests and long-term MCG observations, which are useful for early detections of heart diseases. Here, we introduce a movable MCG system that can clearly record MCG signals of freely behaving participants in an unshielded environment. On the basis of optically pumped magnetometers with a sensitivity of 140 fT/Hz^1/2, we successfully demonstrated the resting MCG and the exercise MCG tests. Our method is promising to realize a practical movable multichannel unshielded MCG system that nearly sets no limits to participants and brings another kind of insight into the medical diagnosis of heart disease.

Zero- to ultralow-field (ZULF) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an emerging tool for precision chemical analysis. In this work, we study dynamic processes and investigate the influence of chemical exchange on ZULF NMR J-spectra. We develop a computational approach that allows quantitative calculation of J-spectra in the presence of chemical exchange and apply it to study aqueous solutions of [¹⁵N]ammonium (¹⁵N $${\mathrm{H}}_4^ +$$H 4 + ) as a model system. We show that pH-dependent chemical exchange substantially affects the J-spectra and, in some cases, can lead to degradation and complete disappearance of the spectral features. To demonstrate potential applications of ZULF NMR for chemistry and biomedicine, we show a ZULF NMR spectrum of [2-¹³C]pyruvic acid hyperpolarized via dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (dDNP). We foresee applications of affordable and scalable ZULF NMR coupled with hyperpolarization to study chemical exchange phenomena in vivo and in situations where high-field NMR detection is not possible to implement.