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    Cyclotron radiation signal characterization in resonant cavities for the Project 8 neutrino mass experiment

    A. Ashtari Esfahani1,*, S. Bhagvati2, H. P. Binney3, S. Böser4, M. J. Brandsema5, N. Buzinsky3,†, R. Cabral6, M. C. Carmona-Benitez2, C. Claessens1 et al. (Project 8 Collaboration)

    C. Claessens1, L. de Viveiros2, A. El Boustani4, M. G. Elliott7, S. Enomoto1, M. Fertl4, J. A. Formaggio3, B. T. Foust8, J. K. Gaison8, P. Harmston9, K. M. Heeger10, B. J. P. Jones7, E. Karim11, K. Kazkaz12, P. T. Kolbeck1, A. Kurmus1, M. Li3, A. Lindman4,13, C.-Y. Liu9, T. Luo13, C. Matthé4, R. Mohiuddin14, B. Monreal14, B. Mucogllava4, R. Mueller2,‡, A. Negi7, J. A. Nikkel10,§, E. Novitski1, N. S. Oblath8, M. Oueslati6, J. I. Peña3, W. Pettus6, A. W. P. Poon13, V. S. Ranatunga14, R. Reimann4, A. L. Reine6, R. G. H. Robertson1, G. Rybka1, L. Saldaña10, V. Sharma11, P. L. Slocum10, F. Spanier15, J. Stachurska16, Y.-H. Sun1, P. T. Surukuchi11, A. B. Telles10, F. Thomas4, L. A. Thorne4, T. Thümmler17, M. Turqueti13, W. Van De Pontseele3,18, B. A. VanDevender1,8, T. E. Weiss10, M. Wynne1, and A. Ziegler2,∥ (Project 8 Collaboration)

    • 1Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
    • 2Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
    • 3Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • 4Institute for Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
    • 5Applied Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
    • 6Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter and Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA
    • 7Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA
    • 8Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, USA
    • 9Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
    • 10Wright Laboratory and Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
    • 11Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
    • 12Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA
    • 13Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
    • 14Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA
    • 15Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
    • 16Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    • 17Institute of Astroparticle Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
    • 18Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado 80401, USA

    • *Present Address: TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC V6T 2A3, Canada.
    • †Present Address: Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
    • ‡Contact author: rjm6826@psu.edu
    • §Present Address: Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada.
    • ∥Present Address: HRL Laboratories LLC, Malibu, California 90265, USA.
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    Phys. Rev. C 114, 045503 – Published 28 October, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zgxw-xghd

    Abstract

    Many experimental methods in physics require understanding radiation from single particles into nontrivial electromagnetic mode structures. Such characterization is critical for Cyclotron Radiation Emission Spectroscopy (CRES), an advancing new measurement technique that has the potential to greatly benefit fundamental physics measurements. In CRES, charged particles emit cyclotron radiation at frequencies that provide their energy measurement. As a notable example, the Project 8 experiment aims to kinematically infer the neutrino mass by measuring the energies of electrons emitted in tritium beta decay using CRES. In near-term realizations of Project 8, resonant cylindrical cavities will be used for CRES readout, in a configuration with a magnetic field oriented along the symmetry axis, and electrons following helical cyclotron trajectories confined to the cavity interior. The physics of electromagnetic radiation in these environments is complicated, since it involves both the motion of the emitting particle and the mode structure imposed by the cavity. In this work, we derive and validate an analytic model for how an oscillating, trapped electron radiates into cavity modes, and the power and frequency content of the radiation that can be read out from these events. These results can be used to guide the design of cavities for future CRES and other experiments.

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    Phys. Rev. C 114, 045503– Published 28 October, 2026
    • Received 15 January 2026
    • Accepted 16 July 2026
    Article part of CHORUS
    Accepted manuscript will be available starting 28 October, 2027.
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