Detecting light axions from supernovae in nearby galaxies

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lecce, Francesca, Lella, Alessandro, Lucente, Giuseppe, Giannotti, Maurizio, Mirizzi, Alessandro
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Lecce, Francesca
Lella, Alessandro
Lucente, Giuseppe
Giannotti, Maurizio
Mirizzi, Alessandro
author_facet Lecce, Francesca
Lella, Alessandro
Lucente, Giuseppe
Giannotti, Maurizio
Mirizzi, Alessandro
contents Axion-like particles (ALPs) coupled to nucleons can be efficiently produced in core-collapse supernovae (SNe) and then, if they couple to photons, convert into gamma rays in cosmic magnetic fields, generating short gamma-ray bursts. Though ALPs from a Galactic SN would induce an intense and easily detectable gamma-ray signal, such events are exceedingly rare. In contrast, a few SNe per year are expected in nearby galaxies within $\mathcal{O}(10)$ Mpc, where strong magnetic fields can enable more efficient ALP-photon conversions than in the Milky Way, offering a promising extragalactic target. This circumstance motivates full-sky gamma-ray monitoring, ideally combined with deci-hertz gravitational-wave detectors to enable time-triggered searches from nearby galaxies. We show that, under realistic conditions, a decade of coverage could reach sensitivities to ALP-photon coupling $g_{a γ} \gtrsim 10^{-16} \rm{GeV}^{-1}$ for ALP masses $m_a \lesssim 10^{-9} $ eV and assuming an ALP-nucleon coupling close to SN 1987A cooling bound. This sensitivity would allow one to probe a large, currently-unexplored region of the parameter space below the longstanding SN 1987A bound.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_04185
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Detecting light axions from supernovae in nearby galaxies
Lecce, Francesca
Lella, Alessandro
Lucente, Giuseppe
Giannotti, Maurizio
Mirizzi, Alessandro
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Axion-like particles (ALPs) coupled to nucleons can be efficiently produced in core-collapse supernovae (SNe) and then, if they couple to photons, convert into gamma rays in cosmic magnetic fields, generating short gamma-ray bursts. Though ALPs from a Galactic SN would induce an intense and easily detectable gamma-ray signal, such events are exceedingly rare. In contrast, a few SNe per year are expected in nearby galaxies within $\mathcal{O}(10)$ Mpc, where strong magnetic fields can enable more efficient ALP-photon conversions than in the Milky Way, offering a promising extragalactic target. This circumstance motivates full-sky gamma-ray monitoring, ideally combined with deci-hertz gravitational-wave detectors to enable time-triggered searches from nearby galaxies. We show that, under realistic conditions, a decade of coverage could reach sensitivities to ALP-photon coupling $g_{a γ} \gtrsim 10^{-16} \rm{GeV}^{-1}$ for ALP masses $m_a \lesssim 10^{-9} $ eV and assuming an ALP-nucleon coupling close to SN 1987A cooling bound. This sensitivity would allow one to probe a large, currently-unexplored region of the parameter space below the longstanding SN 1987A bound.
title Detecting light axions from supernovae in nearby galaxies
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.04185