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At least 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Axion like particles and the inverse seesaw mechanism

Light pseudoscalars known as axion like particles (ALPs) may be behind physical phenomena like the Universe transparency to ultra-energetic photons, the soft -ray excess from the Coma cluster, and the 3.5 keV line. We explore the connection of these particles with the inverse seesaw (ISS) mechanism for neutrino mass generation. We propose a very restrictive setting where the scalar field hosting the ALP is also responsible for generating the ISS mass scales through its vacuum expectation value on gravity induced nonrenormalizable operators. A discrete gauge symmetry protects the theory from the appearance of overly strong gravitational effects and discrete anomaly cancellation imposes strong constraints on the order of the group. In conclusion, the anomalous U(1) symmetry leading to the ALP is an extended lepton number and the protective discrete symmetry can be always chosen as a subgroup of a combination of the lepton number and the baryon number.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Flux flattening in axion monodromy inflation

String theory models of axion monodromy inflation exhibit scalar potentials which are quadratic for small values of the inflaton field and evolve to a more complicated function for large field values. Oftentimes the large field behaviour is gentler than quadratic, lowering the tensor-to-scalar ratio. This effect, known as flattening, has been observed in the string theory context through the properties of the DBI+CS D-brane action. We revisit such flattening effects in type IIB flux compactifications with mobile D7-branes, with the inflaton identified with the D7-brane position. We observe that here, with a generic choice of background fluxes, flattening effects are larger than previously observed, allowing to fit these models within current experimental bounds. In particular, we compute the cosmological observables in scenarios compatible with closed-string moduli stabilisation, finding tensor-to-scalar ratios as low as r ~ 0.04. These are models of single field inflation in which the inflaton is much lighter than the other scalars through a mild tuning of the compactification data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Axion-Like Particles at the ILC Giga-Z

Axion-Like Particles (ALPs) are a generic, calculable, and well motivated extension of the Standard Model with far reaching phenomenology. ALPs that couple only to hypercharge represent one subset of such models, coupling the ALP to both photons and the Z boson. We examine the current constraints on this class of models with an ALP mass in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV range, paying particular attention to the region between 100 MeV to 10 GeV, a portion of parameter space which is ill constrained by current experiments. We show that the more than 109 Z bosons produced in the Giga-Z mode of the future ILC experiment, combined with the highly granular nature of its detectors, will allow for ALPs coupled to hypercharge to be discovered with couplings down to nearly 10 –5 GeV –1 over a range of masses from 0.4 to 50 GeV.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Measurement of light-by-light scattering and the Breit-Wheeler process, and search for axion-like particles in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV

Measurements of light-by-light scattering (LbL, γγ → γγ) and the Breit-Wheeler process (BW, γγ → e + e − ) are reported in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 nb −1 , was collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2018. Events with an exclusively produced γγ or e + e − pair with invariant masses m γγ,ee > 5 GeV, along with other fiducial criteria, are selected. The measured BW fiducial production cross section, σ fid (γγ → e + e − ) = 263.5 ± 1.8(stat) ± 17.8(syst) μb, as well as the differential distributions for various kinematic observables, are in agreement with leading-order quantum electrodynamics predictions complemented with final-state photon radiation. The measured differential BW cross sections allow discrimination between different theoretical descriptions of the photon flux of the lead ion. In the LbL final state, 26 exclusive diphoton candidate events are observed compared with 12.0 ± 2.9 expected for the background. Combined with previous results, the observed significance of the LbL signal with respect to the background-only hypothesis is above five standard deviations. The measured fiducial LbL scattering cross section, σ fid (γγ → γγ) = 107 ± 24(stat) ± 13(syst) nb, is in agreement with next- to-leading-order predictions. Limits on the production of axion-like particles coupled to photons are set over the mass range 5–100 GeV, including the most stringent limits to date in the range of 5–10 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Expected sensitivity of the Light Dark Matter eXperiment to long-lived dark photons and axion-like particles

The Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX) is an electron-beam fixed-target experiment primarily designed to achieve world-leading, model-independent sensitivity to sub-GeV dark matter particles. LDMX aims to identify dark sector particle production through the detection of events with substantial missing energy and momentum, a signature of invisible particles escaping detection. Beyond this primary objective, LDMX offers a complementary search strategy for long-lived, visibly decaying particles, such as dark photons and axion-like particles. We present the first detailed evaluation of the ability of LDMX to identify visibly decaying, long-lived particles that couple to electrons using a detailed simulation, based on the Geant 4-toolkit, that incorporates realistic detection efficiencies and background levels. We demonstrate that LDMX can achieve a sensitivity that is competitive with other experiments that are currently running. The models explored in this paper are distinct and complementary to those probed in the LDMX flagship missing-momentum analysis. Through searching for both invisible dark matter and visibly decaying long-lived signatures, LDMX will significantly advance the search for light dark matter and provide a broad exploration of the sub-GeV dark sector.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

Akesson, Torsten [Lund U.] (ORCID:0000000341415408↗
DOE OSTI2022

Axion induced SUSY breaking and focus point gaugino mediation

We consider a scenario where supersymmetry breaking, its mediation, and the cancellation of the theta parameter of SU(3) C are all caused by a single chiral multiplet. The string axion multiplet is a natural candidate of such a superfield. We show that the scenario provides a convincing basis of focus point gaugino mediation, where the electroweak scale is explained with a moderate tuning among the parameters of the theory.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Search for axion-like particles through nuclear Primakoff production using the GlueX detector

We report on the results of the first search for the production of axion-like particles (ALPs) via Primakoff production on nuclear targets, γA → aA, in the “SRC-CT” experiment using the GlueX detector at Jefferson Lab. This search uses an integrated luminosity of 100 pb -1 nucleon on a 12 C target with a real photon beam of energies 6 < E γ < 10.8 GeV, and explores the mass region of 200 < m a < 450 MeV via the decay a → γγ. This mass range is between the π 0 and η meson masses, which enables the use of the measured η meson production rate to obtain absolute bounds on the ALP production with reduced sensitivity to experimental luminosity and detection efficiency. We find no evidence for an ALP, consistent with previous searches in the quoted mass range, and present limits on the effective photon coupling scale of $\mathscr{O}$(1 TeV -1 ). We further find that the ALP production limit we obtain is hindered by the peaking structure of the non-target-related dominant background the in GlueX spectrometer, which we treat by using data on 4 He to estimate and subtract it. We comment on how this search can be improved in a future higher-statistics dedicated measurement.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Observational constraints on gauge field production in axion inflation

Models of axion inflation are particularly interesting since they provide a natural justification for the flatness of the potential over a super-Planckian distance, namely the approximate shift-symmetry of the inflaton. In addition, most of the observational consequences are directly related to this symmetry and hence are correlated. Large tensor modes can be accompanied by the observable effects of a the shift-symmetric coupling φF F-tilde to a gauge field. During inflation this coupling leads to a copious production of gauge quanta and consequently a very distinct modification of the primordial curvature perturbations. In this work we compare these predictions with observations. We find that the leading constraint on the model comes from the CMB power spectrum when considering both WMAP 7-year and ACT data. The bispectrum generated by the non-Gaussian inverse-decay of the gauge field leads to a comparable but slightly weaker constraint. There is also a constraint from μ-distortion using TRIS plus COBE/FIRAS data, but it is much weaker. Finally we comment on a generalization of the model to massive gauge fields. When the mass is generated by some light Higgs field, observably large local non-Gaussianity can be produced.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Observing the shadow of Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton-Axion black hole

In this paper, the shadows cast by Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton-Axion black hole and naked singularity are studied. The shadow of a rotating black hole is found to be a dark zone covered by a deformed circle. For a fixed value of the spin a, the size of the shadow decreases with the dilaton parameter b. The distortion of the shadow monotonically increases with b and takes its maximal when the black hole approaches to the extremal case. Due to the optical properties, the area of the black hole shadow is supposed to equal to the high-energy absorption cross section. Based on this assumption, the energy emission rate is investigated. For a naked singularity, the shadow has a dark arc and a dark spot or straight, and the corresponding observables are obtained. These results show that there is a significant effect of the spin a and dilaton parameter b on these shadows. Moreover, we examine the observables of the shadow cast by the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, which is very useful for us to probe the nature of the black hole through the astronomical observations in the near future.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Anisotropy test of the axion-like particle Universe opacity effect: a case for the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The opacity of the Universe to gamma rays is still poorly measured, in particular anomalies may have been observed. Assuming that such anomalies find their origin in conventional physics like intrinsic source spectra or the density of the extragalactic background light, they would be evenly distributed over the sky. If they exist, axion-like particles (ALPs) would have a potential effect on the opacity of the Universe to gamma rays, possibly related to the anomalies in the spectral indices of distant gamma-ray sources. Under the assumption that distant sources offer suitable environments for their production, ALPs convert back to photons in the Galactic magnetic field and their effect on the opacity is expected to depend on the position of the sources. In that case the anomaly is expected to exhibit peculiar correlations on the sky. We propose a method to test the origin of the opacity anomaly, based on angular correlations of spectral softening anomalies. Such a diagnosis requires a wide-field survey of high-energy gamma-ray sources over a broad range of energy. The future Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is perfectly suited to perform such a study. It is shown that while the current sample of sources is not large enough to base conclusions on, with this method CTA will be sensitive to ALP couplings to gamma rays of the order of 3 × 10{sup −11}GeV{sup −1} for ALP masses below 10{sup −8} eV.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

On detecting oscillations of gamma rays into axion-like particles in turbulent and coherent magnetic fields

Background radiation fields pervade the Universe, and above a certain energy any γ-ray flux emitted by an extragalactic source should be attenuated due to e{sup +}e{sup -} pair production. The opacity could be alleviated if photons oscillated into hypothetical axion-like particles (ALPs) in ambient magnetic fields, leading to a γ-ray excess especially at high optical depths that could be detected with imaging air Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). Here, we introduce a method to search for such a signal in γ-ray data and to estimate sensitivities for future observations. Different magnetic fields close to the γ-ray source are taken into account in which photons can convert into ALPs that then propagate unimpeded over cosmological distances until they re-convert in the magnetic field of the Milky Way. Specifically, we consider the coherent field at parsec scales in a blazar jet as well as the turbulent field inside a galaxy cluster. For the latter, we explicitly derive the transversal components of a magnetic field with gaussian turbulence which are responsible for the photon-ALP mixing. To illustrate the method, we apply it to a mock IACT array with characteristics similar to the Cherekov Telescope Array and investigate the dependence of the sensitivity to detect a γ-ray excess on the magnetic-field parameters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

3.55 keV photon lines from axion to photon conversion in the Milky Way and M31

We further explore a scenario in which the recently observed 3.55 keV photon line arises from dark matter decay to an axion-like particle (ALP) of energy 3.55 keV, which then converts to a photon in astrophysical magnetic fields. This ALP scenario is well-motivated by the observed morphology of the 3.55 keV flux. For this scenario we study the expected flux from dark matter decay in the galactic halos of both the Milky Way and Andromeda (M31). The Milky Way magnetic field is asymmetric about the galactic centre, and so the resulting 3.55 keV flux morphology differs significantly from the case of direct dark matter decay to photons. However the Milky Way magnetic field is not large enough to generate an observable signal, even with ASTRO-H. In contrast, M31 has optimal conditions for a → γ conversion and the intrinsic signal from M31 becomes two orders of magnitude larger than for the Milky Way, comparable to that from clusters and consistent with observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Sensitivity of the Cherenkov Telescope Array to the detection of axion-like particles at high gamma-ray opacities

Extensions of the Standard Model of particles commonly predict the existence of axion(-like) particles (ALPs) that could be detected through their coupling to photons in external magnetic fields. This coupling could lead to modifications of γ-ray spectra from extragalactic sources. Above a certain energy, the γ-ray flux should be exponentially damped due to the interaction with photons of background radiations fields. ALPs, on the other hand, propagate unimpeded over cosmological distances and a reconversion into γ-rays could lead to an additional component in the spectra. Here, we present the sensitivity of the proposed Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) to detect this spectral hardening. Using the full instrumental response functions of CTA, a combined likelihood analysis of four γ-ray sources shows that a significant detection of the ALP signal is possible for couplings g{sub aγ} ≳ 2 × 10{sup −11} GeV{sup −1} and ALP masses m{sub a} ∼< 100 neV. We discuss the dependency of these values on different model assumptions and magnetic-field scenarios and identify the best observation strategy to search for an ALP induced boost of the γ-ray flux.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A minimal sub-Planckian axion inflation model with large tensor-to-scalar ratio

We present a minimal axion inflation model which can generate a large tensor-to-scalar ratio while remaining sub-Planckian. The modulus of a complex scalar field Φ with a λ|Φ|{sup 4} potential couples directly to the gauge field of a strongly-coupled sector via a term of the form (|Φ|/M{sub Pl}){sup m}F F-tilde . This generates a minimum of the potential which is aperiodic in the phase. The resulting inflation model is equivalent to a φ{sup 4/(m+1)} chaotic inflation model. For the natural case of a leading-order portal-like interaction of the form Φ{sup †}ΦF F-tilde , the model is equivalent to a φ{sup 4/3} chaotic inflation model and predicts a tensor-to-scalar ratio r = 16/3N = 0.097 and a scalar spectral index n{sub s} = 1 - 5/3N = 0.970. The value of |Φ| remains sub-Planckian throughout the observable era of inflation, with |Φ| ∼< 0.01M{sub Pl} for N ∼< 60 when λ ∼ 1.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Revisiting the SN1987A gamma-ray limit on ultralight axion-like particles

We revise the bound from the supernova SN1987A on the coupling of ultralight axion-like particles (ALPs) to photons. In a core-collapse supernova, ALPs would be emitted via the Primakoff process, and eventually convert into gamma rays in the magnetic field of the Milky Way. The lack of a gamma-ray signal in the GRS instrument of the SMM satellite in coincidence with the observation of the neutrinos emitted from SN1987A therefore provides a strong bound on their coupling to photons. Due to the large uncertainty associated with the current bound, we revise this argument, based on state-of-the-art physical inputs both for the supernova models and for the Milky-Way magnetic field. Furthermore, we provide major amendments, such as the consistent treatment of nucleon-degeneracy effects and of the reduction of the nuclear masses in the hot and dense nuclear medium of the supernova. With these improvements, we obtain a new upper limit on the photon-ALP coupling: g{sub aγ} ∼< 5.3 × 10{sup -12} GeV{sup -1}, for m{sub a} ∼< 4.4 × 10{sup -10} eV, and we also give its dependence at larger ALP masses m{sub a}. Moreover, we discuss how much the Fermi-LAT satellite experiment could improve this bound, should a close-enough supernova explode in the near future.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Gravitational waves from first-order phase transition in a simple axion-like particle model

We consider a gauge-singlet complex scalar field Φ with a global U(1) symmetry that is spontaneously broken at some high energy scale ƒ a . As a result, the angular part of the Φ-field becomes an axion-like particle (ALP). We show that if the Φ-field has a nonzero coupling κ to the Standard Model Higgs boson, there exists a certain region in the (ƒ a , κ) parameter space where the global U(1) symmetry-breaking induces a strongly first order phase transition, thereby producing stochastic gravitational waves that are potentially observable in current and future gravitational-wave detectors. In particular, we find that future gravitational-wave experiments such as TianQin, BBO and Cosmic Explorer could probe a broad range of the energy scale 10 3 GeV ≳ ƒ a ≳ 108 GeV, independent of the ALP mass. Since all the ALP couplings to the Standard Model particles are proportional to inverse powers of the energy scale ƒ a (up to model-dependent O (1) coefficients), the gravitationalwave detection prospects are largely complementary to the current laboratory, astrophysical and cosmological probes of the ALP scenarios.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Parity-odd and even trispectrum from axion inflation

The four-point correlation function of primordial scalar perturbations has parity-even and parity-odd contributions and the parity-odd signal in cosmological observations is opening a novel window to look for new physics in the inflationary epoch. We study the distinct parity-odd and even prediction from the axion inflation model, in which the inflaton couples to a vector field via a Chern-Simons interaction, and the vector field is considered to be either approximately massless (m A << Hubble scale H) or very massive (m A ~ H). The parity-odd signal arises due to one transverse mode of the vector field being predominantly produced during inflation. We adopt the in-in formalism to evaluate the correlation functions. Considering the vector field mode function to be dominated by its real part up to a constant phase, we simplify the formulas for numerical computations. The numerical studies show that the massive and massless vector fields give significant parity-even signals, while the parity-odd contribution is about one to two orders of magnitude smaller.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Constraints on axion-like particles with different magnetic field models from the PKS 2155–304 energy spectrum

Axion-like particles (ALPs) are a promising kind of dark matter candidate particle that are predicted to couple with photons in the presence of magnetic fields. The oscillations between photons and ALPs traveling in the magnetic fields have been used to constrain ALP properties. In this work, we obtain some new constraints on the ALP mass m a and the photon-ALP coupling constant g with two different magnetic field models through TeV photons from PKS 2155–304. Here, the first is the discrete-Ψ model in which the magnetic field has the orientation angle Ψ that changes discretely and randomly from one coherent domain to the next, and the second is the linearly-continuous-Ψ model in which the magnetic field orientation angle Ψ varies continuously across neighboring coherent domains.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗