Jul 11 – 22, 2022
Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University
Europe/Berlin timezone

Hunting for axions in the solar basin

Jul 15, 2022, 10:30 AM
45m
02.430 (Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University)

02.430

Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University

Staudingerweg 9 / 2nd floor, 55128 Mainz

Speaker

William DeRocco

Description

A large flux of axion-like particles can be produced in the solar core. While the majority of these particles will have high velocities and escape the Sun’s gravitational pull, a small fraction of low-velocity particles will become trapped on bound orbits. Over time, an appreciable density of slow-moving axions can accumulate in this “solar basin.” Their subsequent decay to two photons provides a distinct observational signature. I will present a recent analysis using data taken by the NuSTAR X-ray telescope to search for the decay products of keV-scale axions trapped in the solar basin. Our results ultimately set limits on the axion-photon and axion-electron couplings well over an order of magnitude beyond current constraints and motivate the further exploration of stellar basins in other astrophysical systems.

Primary author

William DeRocco

Presentation materials

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