On the Galactic radio signal from stimulated decay of axion dark matter

Abstract

We study the full-sky distribution of the radio emission from the stimulated decay of axions which are assumed to compose the dark matter in the Galaxy. Besides the constant extragalactic and CMB components, the decays are stimulated by a Galactic radio emission with a spatial distribution that we empirically determine from observations. We compare the diffuse emission to the counterimages of the brightest supernovæ remnants, and take into account the effects of free-free absorption. We show that, if the dark matter halo is described by a cuspy NFW profile, the expected signal from the Galactic center is the strongest. Interestingly, the emission from the Galactic anti-center provides competitive constraints that do not depend on assumptions on the uncertain dark matter density in the inner region. Furthermore, the anti-center of the Galaxy is the brightest spot if the Galactic dark matter density follows a cored profile. The expected signal from stimulated decays of axions of mass ma ∼ 10-6 eV is within reach of the Square Kilometer Array for an axion-photon coupling gaγ ≳ (2-3) × 10-11 GeV-1.