Speaker
Description
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic phenomena in the Universe since the Big Bang, typically emitting radiation in the energy range from tens of keV to hundreds of MeV during their prompt phase. On October 9, 2022, GRB 221009A was detected and identified as the brightest GRB ever observed, distinguished by the detection of photons with energies up to 13 TeV, as reported by the LHAASO observatory. Such TeV emission is not expected from sources at redshifts z > 0.1, as in the case of GRB 221009A, due to attenuation by the extragalactic background light (EBL). This observation challenges standard emission models and motivates alternative scenarios. Among these, axion-like particles (ALPs), well-motivated dark matter candidates, have been proposed as a possible explanation for the observed high-energy emission from extragalactic sources. In this work, we search for very-high-energy emission from a sample of three long GRBs within the field of view of the HAWC Observatory, and analyzed over multiple time windows following the trigger. Using the measured energy fluxes of these sources, we perform a statistical analysis to evaluate the potential contribution of ALPs and to constrain their parameter space, defined by their mass and coupling factor.This work was supported by UNAM-PAPIIT IG100726 and SECIHTI LNC-2023-117.