Light Shining Through Wall Bounds on Axions From Obscured Magnetars
Coupling of axions or axion-like particles (ALPs) with photons may lead to photons escaping optically opaque regions by oscillating into ALPs. This phenomenon may be viewed as the Light Shining through Wall (LSW) scenario. While this LSW technique has been used previously in controlled laboratory se...
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Zusammenfassung: | Coupling of axions or axion-like particles (ALPs) with photons may lead to
photons escaping optically opaque regions by oscillating into ALPs. This
phenomenon may be viewed as the Light Shining through Wall (LSW) scenario.
While this LSW technique has been used previously in controlled laboratory
settings to constrain the ALP-photon coupling ($g_{a\gamma}$), we show that
this can also be applied in astrophysical environments. We find that obscured
magnetars in particular are excellent candidates for this purpose. A fraction
of photons emitted by the magnetar may convert to ALPs in the magnetar
neighborhood, cross the large absorption column densities, and convert back
into photons due to the interstellar magnetic field. Comparing the observed
flux with the estimated intrinsic flux from the magnetar, we can constrain the
contribution of this process, and hence constrain $g_{a\gamma}$. The effects of
resonant conversion near the magnetar as well as ALP-photon oscillations in the
interstellar medium are carefully considered. Taking a suitable magnetar
candidate PSR J1622-4950, we find that the ALP-photon coupling can be
constrained at $g_{a\gamma} \lesssim (10^{-10} - 10^{-11})$ GeV$^{-1}$ for low
mass axions ($m_a \lesssim 10^{-12}$ eV). Our study reveals the previously
unrealized potential for employing the LSW technique for obscured magnetars for
probing and constraining ALP-photon couplings. |
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DOI: | 10.48550/arxiv.2311.14298 |