Axion-photon propagation in magnetized universe
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100012 (China)
- Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)
Oscillations between photons and axion-like particles (ALP) travelling in intergalactic magnetic fields have been invoked to explain a number of astrophysical phenomena, or used to constrain ALP properties using observations. One example is the anomalous transparency of the universe to TeV gamma rays. The intergalactic magnetic field is usually modeled as patches of coherent domains, each with a uniform magnetic field, but the field orientation changes randomly from one domain to the next (''discrete-φ model''). We show in this paper that in more realistic situations, when the magnetic field direction varies continuously along the propagation path, the photon-to-ALP conversion probability P can be significantly different from the discrete-φ model. In particular, P has a distinct dependence on the photon energy and ALP mass, and can be as large as 100%. This result can affect previous constraints on ALP properties based on ALP-photon propagation in intergalactic magnetic fields, such as TeV photons from distant Active Galactic Nucleus.
- OSTI ID:
- 22679685
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2016, Issue 06; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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