Status and Overview of the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX)

The axion is a hypothetical particle that both explains why the strong force is CP invariant and answers the question of what constitutes the dark matter in the universe. ADMX is a direct search for dark-matter axions. The search technique is based on the resonant conversion of axions into photons with an apparatus consisting of a microwave cavity threaded by a magnetic field, and quantum-limited microwave amplification. This experiment, in several different configurations, is now beginning operations with enough sensitivity to either detect the ``QCD axion'' or reject that hypothesis at high confidence. This talk is an overview of the ADMX project and its search capability.