Resonant Photon-Axion Mixing Driven by Dark Matter Oscillations

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Hauptverfasser: Yao, Run-Min, Bi, Xiao-Jun, Yin, Peng-Fei, Huang, Qing-Guo
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Yao, Run-Min
Bi, Xiao-Jun
Yin, Peng-Fei
Huang, Qing-Guo
author_facet Yao, Run-Min
Bi, Xiao-Jun
Yin, Peng-Fei
Huang, Qing-Guo
contents Wave propagation in periodically time-dependent media can exhibit driven mode conversion that is absent in static or adiabatic descriptions. We show that photon propagation through a coherent axion dark matter background provides a natural realization of such driven dynamics. In the presence of a magnetic field, the oscillating axion field acts as a coherent temporal drive, inducing resonant photon-axion conversion when the mismatch between their dispersion relations is compensated by integer harmonics of the axion oscillation frequency, $Δ_γ- Δ_a \approx n m_a$ with $n \in \mathbb{Z}$. This driven resonance enables efficient mixing far from the conventional level-crossing regime and disappears entirely upon time averaging, explaining why it is missed in standard treatments. The process constitutes a unitary mode-conversion phenomenon that preserves the axion dark matter number density and is distinct from parametric instabilities or axion decay. A systematic description is naturally provided by Floquet theory. We develop a general framework for photon propagation in oscillating axion backgrounds and show that the resulting resonant mixing leads to characteristic polarization signatures, with potential implications for astrophysical observations such as blazar polarization.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_02115
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Resonant Photon-Axion Mixing Driven by Dark Matter Oscillations
Yao, Run-Min
Bi, Xiao-Jun
Yin, Peng-Fei
Huang, Qing-Guo
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Wave propagation in periodically time-dependent media can exhibit driven mode conversion that is absent in static or adiabatic descriptions. We show that photon propagation through a coherent axion dark matter background provides a natural realization of such driven dynamics. In the presence of a magnetic field, the oscillating axion field acts as a coherent temporal drive, inducing resonant photon-axion conversion when the mismatch between their dispersion relations is compensated by integer harmonics of the axion oscillation frequency, $Δ_γ- Δ_a \approx n m_a$ with $n \in \mathbb{Z}$. This driven resonance enables efficient mixing far from the conventional level-crossing regime and disappears entirely upon time averaging, explaining why it is missed in standard treatments. The process constitutes a unitary mode-conversion phenomenon that preserves the axion dark matter number density and is distinct from parametric instabilities or axion decay. A systematic description is naturally provided by Floquet theory. We develop a general framework for photon propagation in oscillating axion backgrounds and show that the resulting resonant mixing leads to characteristic polarization signatures, with potential implications for astrophysical observations such as blazar polarization.
title Resonant Photon-Axion Mixing Driven by Dark Matter Oscillations
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02115