Microwave background constraints on mixing of photons with hidden photons
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Physik (Werner Heisenberg Institut), Foehringer Ring 6, 80805 Muenchen (Germany)
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg (Germany)
- II. Institut fuer theoretische Physik, Universitaet Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg (Germany)
Various extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of hidden photons kinetically mixing with the ordinary photon. This mixing leads to oscillations between photons and hidden photons, analogous to the observed oscillations between different neutrino flavors. In this context, we derive new bounds on the photon-hidden photon mixing parameters using the high precision cosmic microwave background spectral data collected by the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer instrument on board of the Cosmic Background Explorer. Requiring the distortions of the CMB induced by the photon-hidden photon mixing to be smaller than experimental upper limits, this leads to a bound on the mixing angle {chi}{sub 0} {approx}< 10{sup -7}-10{sup -5} for hidden photon masses between 10{sup -14} eV and 10{sup -7} eV. This low-mass and low-mixing region of the hidden photon parameter space was previously unconstrained.
- OSTI ID:
- 22156947
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2009, Issue 03; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Signatures of a Hidden Cosmic Microwave Background
Helioscope bounds on hidden sector photons