Benchmarking Microwave Cavity Dark Matter Searches using a Radioactive Source

A radioactive source is proposed as a calibration device to verify the sensitivity of a microwave dark matter search experiment. The interaction of e.g., electrons travelling in an arbitrary direction and velocity through an electromagnetically “empty” microwave cavity can be calculated numerically. We give an estimation of the energy deposited by a charged particle into a particular mode. Numerical examples are given for beta emitters and two particular cases: interaction with a field free cavity and interaction with a cavity which already contains an electromagnetic field. Each particle delivers a certain amount of energy related to the modal R/Q value of the cavity. The transferred energy is a function of the particles trajectory and its velocity. It results in a resonant response of the cavity, which can be observed using a sensitive microwave receiver, provided that the deposited energy is significantly above the single photon threshold.