BICEP / Keck XII: Constraints on axion-like polarization oscillations in the cosmic microwave background

Abstract

We present a search for axion-like polarization oscillations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) with observations from the Keck Array. A local axion field induces an all-sky, temporally sinusoidal rotation of CMB polarization. A CMB polarimeter can thus function as a direct-detection experiment for axion-like dark matter. We develop techniques to extract an oscillation signal. Many elements of the method are generic to CMB polarimetry experiments and can be adapted for other datasets. As a first demonstration, we process data from the 2012 observing season to set upper limits on the axion-photon coupling constant in the mass range $10^{-21}$-$10^{-18}\mathrm{eV}$, which corresponds to oscillation periods on the order of hours to months. We find no statistically significant deviations from the background model. For periods larger than $24\mathrm{hr}$ (mass $m<4.8\times 10^{-20}\mathrm{eV}$), the median 95%-confidence upper limit is equivalent to a rotation amplitude of $0.68^{\circ }$, which constrains the axion-photon coupling constant to $g_{\varphi \gamma }<\left(1.1\times 10^{-11}{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}\right)m/\left(10^{-21}\mathrm{eV}\right)$, if axion-like particles constitute all of the dark matter. The constraints can be improved substantially with data already collected by the BICEP series of experiments. Current and future CMB polarimetry experiments are expected to achieve sufficient sensitivity to rule out unexplored regions of the axion parameter space.

25 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables

References in corpus (5)

• Ultralight scalars as cosmological dark matter
• CMB-S4 Science Case, Reference Design, and Project Plan
• Revisiting the SN1987A gamma-ray limit on ultralight axion-like particles
• Turbulent axion-photon conversions in the Milky-Way
• Design and performance of the first BICEP Array receiver

Cited by in corpus (13)

• New physics from the polarised light of the cosmic microwave background
• Redshift evolution of cosmic birefringence in CMB anisotropies
• Searching for axion-like time-dependent cosmic birefringence with data from SPT-3G
• BICEP / Keck XIV: Improved constraints on axion-like polarization oscillations in the cosmic microwave background
• Magnetic Misalignment of Interstellar Dust Filaments
• Constraints on axion-like polarization oscillations in the cosmic microwave background with POLARBEAR
• Characterising cosmic birefringence in the presence of galactic foregrounds and instrumental systematic effects
• Bayesian approach to radio frequency interference mitigation
• Constraints on ultralight axions, vector gauge bosons, and unparticles from geodetic and frame-dragging measurements
• Exploration of the polarization angle variability of the Crab Nebula with POLARBEAR and its application to the search for axion-like particles
• New Interpretations of the Cosmological Preference for a Negative Neutrino Mass
• The Design and Integrated Performance of SPT-3G
• BICEP/Keck XXI: Constraints on Early-Universe Parity Violation from Multipole-Dependent Birefringence