Search for the imprint of axion-like particles in the highest-energy photons of hard γ-ray blazars

Buehler, R.; Gallardo, Galo; Maier, G.; Domínguez, A.; López, M.; Meyer, M.

doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2020/09/027

Cited by 27 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…with g 0 = 10 −11 GeV −1 denoting an arbitrary reference coupling, roughly corresponding to the current upper limit, g aγ 5.3 × 10 −12 GeV −1 [47], for ALP masses ranging from m a 10 −12 to 10 −8 eV [37,38,40,47,67]. For lower-mass ALPs, i.e.…”

Section: Alp Modelmentioning

confidence: 86%

Searching for Axion-Like Particles from Core-Collapse Supernovae with Fermi LAT's Low Energy Technique

Crnogorčević,

Caputo,

Meyer

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Light axion-like particles (ALPs) are expected to be abundantly produced in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), resulting in a ∼10-second long burst of ALPs. These particles subsequently undergo conversion into gamma-rays in external magnetic fields to produce a long gamma-ray burst (GRB) with a characteristic spectrum peaking in the 30-100-MeV energy range. At the same time, CCSNe are invoked as progenitors of ordinary long GRBs, rendering it relevant to conduct a comprehensive search for ALP spectral signatures using the observations of long GRB with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). We perform a data-driven sensitivity analysis to determine CCSN distances for which a detection of an ALP signal is possible with the LAT's low-energy (LLE) technique which, in contrast to the standard LAT analysis, allows for a a larger effective area for energies down to 30 MeV. Assuming an ALP mass ma 10 −10 eV and ALP-photon coupling gaγ = 5.3 × 10 −12 GeV −1 , values considered and deduced in ALP searches from SN1987A, we find that the distance limit ranges from ∼ 0.5 to ∼ 10 Mpc, depending on the sky location and the CCSN progenitor mass. Furthermore, we select a candidate sample of twenty-four GRBs and carry out a model comparison analysis in which we consider different GRB spectral models with and without an ALP signal component. We find that the inclusion of an ALP contribution does not result in any statistically significant improvement of the fits to the data. We discuss the statistical method used in our analysis and the underlying physical assumptions, the feasibility of setting upper limits on the ALP-photon coupling, and give an outlook on future telescopes in the context of ALP searches.

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Section: Alp Modelmentioning

confidence: 86%

Searching for Axion-Like Particles from Core-Collapse Supernovae with Fermi LAT's Low Energy Technique

Crnogorčević,

Caputo,

Meyer

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Investigations considering the actual distribution of magnetic fields in the magnetized cosmic web have also been performed [331] While ALPs are an important ingredient that could play a leading role on the intergalactic propagation of gamma rays in a magnetized Universe, they have not been observed and only constraints exist. Some limits were derived using gamma-ray observations [327,[332][333][334], but much of the parameter space is excluded due to observations of photons in wavelengths other than gamma rays. Interestingly, some works have been obtaining combined limits on IGMFs and ALPs together [335].…”

Section: Other Propagation Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gamma-ray Window to Intergalactic Magnetism

Batista

Saveliev

2021

Universe

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One of the most promising ways to probe intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMFs) is through gamma rays produced in electromagnetic cascades initiated by high-energy gamma rays or cosmic rays in the intergalactic space. Because the charged component of the cascade is sensitive to magnetic fields, gamma-ray observations of distant objects such as blazars can be used to constrain IGMF properties. Ground-based and space-borne gamma-ray telescopes deliver spectral, temporal, and angular information of high-energy gamma-ray sources, which carries imprints of the intervening magnetic fields. This provides insights into the nature of the processes that led to the creation of the first magnetic fields and into the phenomena that impacted their evolution. Here we provide a detailed description of how gamma-ray observations can be used to probe cosmic magnetism. We review the current status of this topic and discuss the prospects for measuring IGMFs with the next generation of gamma-ray observatories.

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“…On the one hand, it is possible to detect the ALPinduced observational effects on the γ-rays transparency of the Universe [15,[21][22][23][24][27][28][29][30][31]. The very-high-energy (VHE, above 100 GeV) γ-rays from the extragalactic sources suffer attenuation by pair-production interactions with the background (extragalactic background light, EBL; or cosmic microwave background, CMB) photons during the propagation [32][33][34][35][36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The range of the parameters where ALPs would increase the γ-ray transparency of the Universe (for 1.3 times the optical depth of Franceschini et al EBL model [40]) is constrained from VHE γ−rays observations of blazar (AGN with jet closely aligned to the line of sight) [27]. Data from the Fermi-LAT observations of distant (redshift z >0.1) blazar limit g aγ < 10 −11 GeV −1 for m a <3 neV assuming a value of the intergalactic magnetic field strength of 1 nG [31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Probing $μ$eV ALPs with future LHAASO observation of AGN $γ$-ray spectra

Long,

Chen,

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Axion-like particles (ALPs) are predicted in some well-motivated theories beyond the Standard Model. The TeV gamma-rays from active galactic nuclei (AGN) suffers attenuation by the pair production interactions with the cosmic infrared background light (EBL/CMB) during its travel to the earth. The attenuation can be circumvented through photon-ALP conversions in the AGN and Galaxy magnetic-field, and a flux enhancement is expected to arise in the observed spectrum. In this work, we study the potential of the AGN gamma-ray spectrum for energy up to above 100 TeV to probe ALP-parameter space at around µeV, where the coupling gaγ is so far relatively weak constrained. We find the nearby and bright sources, Mrk 501, IC 310 and M 87, are suitable for our objective. Assuming an intrinsic spectrum exponential cutoff energy at Ec=100 TeV, we extrapolate the observed spectra of these sources up to above 100 TeV by the models with/without ALPs. For gaγ 2×10 −11 GeV −1 with ma 1 µeV, the flux at around 100 TeV predicted by the ALP model can be enhanced more than an order of magnitude than that from the standard absorption, and could be detected by LHAASO. Our result is subject to the uncertainty from the intrinsic spectrum above tens of TeV, which require further observations on these sources by the forthcoming CTA, LHAASO, SWGO and so on.

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Search for the imprint of axion-like particles in the highest-energy photons of hard γ-ray blazars

Cited by 27 publications

References 73 publications

Searching for Axion-Like Particles from Core-Collapse Supernovae with Fermi LAT's Low Energy Technique

Searching for Axion-Like Particles from Core-Collapse Supernovae with Fermi LAT's Low Energy Technique

The Gamma-ray Window to Intergalactic Magnetism

Probing $μ$eV ALPs with future LHAASO observation of AGN $γ$-ray spectra

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