DPF - PHENO 2024

Session

Axion

13 May 2024, 16:00

University of Pittsburgh / Carnegie Mellon University

Conveners

Axion: Axion Model Building and Detection

• Chen Sun (Tel Aviv University)

Axion: Axion Detection and ALPs

• Christopher Verhaaren (Brigham Young University)

654. Addressing the axion quality problem

Kaladi Babu

13/05/2024, 16:00

Axion

The Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry that solves the strong CP problem, being a global symmetry, suffers from a potential quality problem in that the symmetry is not respected by quantum gravity. In this talk I will present results from an ongoing work (with B. Dutta and R.N. Mohapatra) where we address successfully this problem based on a gauged U(1) symmetry. The PQ symmetry arises accidentally...

506. Heavy Axion from the Twin Higgs

Christopher Verhaaren (Brigham Young University)

13/05/2024, 16:15

Axion

A heavy axion avoids the quality problem and has been shown to produce interesting experimental signatures. A mirror sector has been invoked to explain how such axions can occur, often with a large hierarchy between the visible and mirror Higgs masses. I discuss a novel realization of the Twin Higgs framework that produces a heavy axion without this large hierarchy, addressing both the strong...

649. A Common Origin for the QCD Axion and Sterile Neutrinos from SU(5) Strong Dynamics

Arpon Paul

13/05/2024, 16:30

Axion

We identify the QCD axion and right-handed (sterile) neutrinos as bound states of an SU(5) chiral gauge theory with Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry arising as a global symmetry of the strong dynamics. The strong dynamics is assumed to spontaneously break the PQ symmetry, producing a high-quality axion and naturally generating Majorana masses for the right-handed neutrinos at the PQ scale. The...

361. Detecting Axion Dark Matter with Black Hole Polarimetry

Huangyu Xiao (Fermilab)

13/05/2024, 16:45

Axion

The axion or axion like particle (ALP), as a leading dark matter candidate, is the target of many on-going and proposed experimental searches based on its coupling to photons. However, indirect searches for axions have not been as competitive as direct searches that can probe a large range of parameter space. In this talk, I will introduce the idea that axion stars will inevitably form in the...

680. Gamma rays from supernova axions converting in stellar magnetic fields: limits from SN1987A and a proposed future observatory

Yujin Park

13/05/2024, 17:00

Axion

Proto-neutron stars, formed in the center of Type-II supernovae, represent promising science targets for probing axions. The hypothetical particles are emitted via e.g. the Primakoff process and can modify the cooling rate of the proto-neutron stars and also convert to observable gamma rays while propagating through astrophysical magnetic field. Observations of Supernova 1987 (SN 1987A) from...

672. Axion-Photon Sensitivity with NuSTAR Observations of M82 and M87

Orion Ning (University of California, Berkeley)

13/05/2024, 17:15

Axion

Ultra-light axions with weak couplings to photons are motivated extensions of the Standard Model. We perform one of the most sensitive searches to-date for the existence of these particles with the NuSTAR telescope by searching for axion production in stars in the M82 starburst galaxy and the M87 central galaxy of the Virgo cluster. This involves a sum over the full stellar populations in...

340. Probing the Axion-Electron Coupling with Magnetized Multilayers

Kevin Zhou (Stanford/SLAC)

15/05/2024, 14:00

Axion

In the presence of axion dark matter, electrons experience an "axion wind" spin torque and an "axioelectric" force, which give rise to magnetization and polarization currents in common ferrite materials. The radiation produced by these currents can be amplified in multilayer setups, which are potentially sensitive to the QCD axion without requiring a large external magnetic field.

659. Axion-like Particles at the Electron-Ion Collider

Monica Leys

15/05/2024, 14:15

Axion

The future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) will have the capability to collide various particle beams with large luminosities in a relatively clean environment, providing access to untouched parameter space for new physics. In this study, we will look at the EIC’s sensitivity to Axion-like particles (ALPs) that are created via photon fusion and promptly decay to photons. Proton-electron collisions...

673. Probing Axion-like Particles from Massive Stars with X-rays and Gamma Rays

Takuya Okawa

15/05/2024, 14:30

Axion

Owing to its high temperature, a copious number of heavy axion-like particles (ALPs) coupled to the photon field are produced by the Primakoff process and photon coalescence process in the plasma of massive stars in the later stages of their evolution. These heavy axions produced inside stars spontaneously decay into two photons, yielding the possibly detectable photon signal by current and...

460. Axion Magnetic Resonance: A Novel Enhancement in Axion-Photon Conversion

Dr Chen Sun (Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL))

15/05/2024, 14:45

Axion

We identify a new resonance, axion magnetic resonance (AMR), that can greatly enhance the conversion rate between axions and photons. A series of axion search experiments rely on converting them into photons inside a constant magnetic field background. A common bottleneck of such experiments is the conversion amplitude being suppressed by the axion mass when $m_a\gtrsim {10}^{-4}$eV. We...

467. New Directions for ALP Searches Combining Nuclear Reactors and Haloscopes

Vedran Brdar (Oklahoma State University (US))

15/05/2024, 15:00

Axion

I will discuss a recently proposed novel experimental setup for axion-like particle (ALP) searches. Nuclear reactors produce a copious number of photons, a fraction of which could convert into ALPs via the Primakoff process in the reactor core. The generated flux of ALPs leaves the nuclear power plant, and its passage through a region with a strong magnetic field results in efficient...

769. -

15/05/2024, 15:15

600. New Constraints on Axion-Like Particles from IXPE Polarization Data for Magnetars

Fazlollah Hajkarim (University of Oklahoma)

Axion

We derive new constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) using precision $X$-ray polarization studies of magnetars. Specifically, we use the first detection of polarized $X$-rays from the magnetars 4U 0142+61 and 1RXS J170849.0-400910 by the Imaging $X$-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to place bounds on the product of the ALP-photon and ALP-nucleon couplings, $g_{a\gamma }{g}_{aN}$, with...