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Title: Supernova Axions Convert to Gamma Rays in Magnetic Fields of Progenitor Stars

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters

It has long been established that axions could have been produced within the nascent proto-neutron star formed following the type II supernova SN1987A, escaped the star due to their weak interactions, and then converted to gamma rays in the Galactic magnetic fields; the nonobservation of a gamma-ray flash coincident with the neutrino burst leads to strong constraints on the axion-photon coupling for axion masses ma≲10–10 eV. In this Letter, we use SN1987A to constrain higher mass axions, all the way to ma~10–3 eV, by accounting for axion production from the Primakoff process, nucleon bremsstrahlung, and pion conversion along with axion-photon conversion on the still-intact magnetic fields of the progenitor star. Moreover, we show that gamma-ray observations of the next Galactic supernova, leveraging the magnetic fields of the progenitor star, could detect quantum chromodynamics axions for masses above roughly 50 μ⁢eV, depending on the supernova. We propose a new full-sky gamma-ray satellite constellation that we call the GALactic AXion Instrument for Supernova (GALAXIS) to search for such future signals along with related signals from extragalactic neutron star mergers.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; SC0019225
OSTI ID:
2478039
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 21 Vol. 133; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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