Searching for Axion-Like Particles with X-ray Observations of Alpha Centauri
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| author | Chen, Yu-Xuan Lei, Lei Xia, Zi-Qing Wang, Ziwei Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming Fan, Yi-Zhong |
| author_facet | Chen, Yu-Xuan Lei, Lei Xia, Zi-Qing Wang, Ziwei Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming Fan, Yi-Zhong |
| contents | We investigate the production of axion-like particles (ALPs) in stellar cores, where they interact with electromagnetic fields and electrons, with typical masses between $\mathcal O(0.1)$ and $\mathcal O(10)$ keV. These low-energy ALPs are gravitationally trapped in the orbits of stars and subsequently decay into two photons that we detect as monochromatic X-ray lines. We propose to search for these gravitationally trapped ALPs in the Alpha Centauri binary system, our closest stellar neighbor, using sensitive X-ray detectors like Chandra and eROSITA. Our search for ALP decay signals in the energy range of $0.2$ keV to $10$ keV yielded null results, thus establishing the most stringent limits on ALP interactions to date. In the case of ALP-electron coupling $g_{aee}\leq 10^{-15}$, we have improved the limits on the ALP-photon coupling $g_{aγγ}$ in ALP mass range between $0.25~\keV$ and $5~\keV$, compared to previous measurements, including those from GW170817, SN 2023ixf, and other sources, and specially the improvement reaches about 2 orders of magnitude at the mass of 2 keV. Even tighter constraints are set for larger $g_{aee}$. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_16065 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Searching for Axion-Like Particles with X-ray Observations of Alpha Centauri Chen, Yu-Xuan Lei, Lei Xia, Zi-Qing Wang, Ziwei Tsai, Yue-Lin Sming Fan, Yi-Zhong High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena High Energy Physics - Phenomenology We investigate the production of axion-like particles (ALPs) in stellar cores, where they interact with electromagnetic fields and electrons, with typical masses between $\mathcal O(0.1)$ and $\mathcal O(10)$ keV. These low-energy ALPs are gravitationally trapped in the orbits of stars and subsequently decay into two photons that we detect as monochromatic X-ray lines. We propose to search for these gravitationally trapped ALPs in the Alpha Centauri binary system, our closest stellar neighbor, using sensitive X-ray detectors like Chandra and eROSITA. Our search for ALP decay signals in the energy range of $0.2$ keV to $10$ keV yielded null results, thus establishing the most stringent limits on ALP interactions to date. In the case of ALP-electron coupling $g_{aee}\leq 10^{-15}$, we have improved the limits on the ALP-photon coupling $g_{aγγ}$ in ALP mass range between $0.25~\keV$ and $5~\keV$, compared to previous measurements, including those from GW170817, SN 2023ixf, and other sources, and specially the improvement reaches about 2 orders of magnitude at the mass of 2 keV. Even tighter constraints are set for larger $g_{aee}$. |
| title | Searching for Axion-Like Particles with X-ray Observations of Alpha Centauri |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena High Energy Physics - Phenomenology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.16065 |