Searching for Axion-Like Particles with X-ray Observations of Alpha Centauri

Abstract

We investigate the production of axion-like particles (ALPs) in stellar cores, where they interact with electromagnetic fields and electrons, with typical masses between $\mathcal{O}(0.1)$ and $\mathcal{O}(10)$ keV. These low-energy ALPs are gravitationally trapped in the orbits of stars and subsequently decay into two photons that we detect as monochromatic X-ray lines. We propose to search for these gravitationally trapped ALPs in the Alpha Centauri binary system, our closest stellar neighbor, using sensitive X-ray detectors like Chandra and eROSITA. Our search for ALP decay signals in the energy range of $0.2$ keV to $10$ keV yielded null results, thus establishing the most stringent limits on ALP interactions to date. In the case of ALP-electron coupling $g_{aee}\le 10^{-15}$, we have improved the limits on the ALP-photon coupling $g_{a\gamma \gamma }$ in ALP mass range between $0.25~\keV$ and $5~\keV$, compared to previous measurements, including those from GW170817, SN 2023ixf, and other sources, and specially the improvement reaches about 2 orders of magnitude at the mass of 2 keV. Even tighter constraints are set for larger $g_{aee}$.

10 pages, 5 figures, PRL Accepted

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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Small Progenitors, Large Couplings: Type Ic Supernova Constraints on Radiatively Decaying Particles