Maximiliano Silva-Feaver

Experimental cosmology & particle physics — axion dark matter and CMB B-modes

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I’m a Mossman Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale University, working at the intersection of particle physics and cosmology. I build and study ultra-sensitive instruments designed to detect faint signals from dark matter and the early universe.

My research has two main threads:

  • Axion dark matter detection (HAYSTAC, ALPHA): resonant RF detectors, and quantum-limited / quantum-enhanced readout
  • CMB instrumentation & analysis (Simons Observatory): readout performance, time-ordered preprocessing, noise modeling, and inflationary B-mode searches

I got into this field because I love turning big physics questions into real hardware and measurement—creative, hands-on science that’s as much about invention as it is about equations.

→ If you’d like to know a little bit more about me and my journey as a physicist, see About: /about/
→ For the science, see Research: /research/ and Projects: /projects/
→ For talks/videos, see Talks & Videos: /talks/

selected publications

  1. Design of ALPHA Phase I: A Plasma Haloscope for 10–20 GHz Post-Inflation Axions
    ALPHA Collaboration, Xiran Bai, Rustam Balafendiev, and 53 more authors
    arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.10292, 2026
    arXiv
  2. The Simons Observatory: Design, integration, and testing of the small aperture telescopes
    Nicholas Galitzki, Tran Tsan, Jake Spisak, and 79 more authors
    The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 2024
    DOI
  3. Phase drift monitoring for tone tracking readout of superconducting microwave resonators
    Maximiliano Silva-Feaver, Zeeshan Ahmed, Kam Arnold, and 5 more authors
    In Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI, 2022
    DOI
  4. Simons Observatory Microwave SQUID Multiplexing Readout: Cryogenic RF Amplifier and Coaxial Chain Design
    Mayuri Sathyanarayana Rao, Maximiliano Silva-Feaver, Aamir Ali, and 33 more authors
    Journal of Low Temperature Physics, Mar 2020
    DOI
  5. Dark matter axion search with HAYSTAC phase II
    Xiran Bai, M. J. Jewell, J. Echevers, and 21 more authors
    Physical Review Letters, Mar 2025
    DOI
  6. Design overview of DM radio pathfinder experiment
    Maximiliano Silva-Feaver, Saptarshi Chaudhuri, Hsiao-Mei Cho, and 12 more authors
    IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Mar 2016
    DOI
  7. Comparison of NIST SA13a and SA4b SQUID array amplifiers
    Maximiliano Silva-Feaver, Kam Arnold, Darcy Barron, and 8 more authors
    Journal of Low Temperature Physics, Mar 2018
    DOI