Speaker
Dr
Markus Rummel
(Perimeter Institute / McMaster University)
Description
Axion-like particles (ALPs) can induce localised oscillatory modulations in the spectra of photon sources passing through astrophysical magnetic fields. Chandra and Persesus observations of quasars or AGNs located in or behind galaxy clusters represent a dataset of extraordinary quality for ALP searches. We use this dataset to search for X-ray spectral irregularities in the point source spectra. The absence of irregularities allows us to place leading constraints on the ALP-photon mixing
parameter $g_{a\gamma\gamma} < 10^{-12}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at 95% confidence for ALP masses $m_a < 10^{-12}$ eV. We also comment on expected bounds from future missions such as Athena.
Primary author
Dr
Markus Rummel
(Perimeter Institute / McMaster University)
Co-authors
Mr
Andrew Powell
(University of Oxford)
Ms
Francesca Day
(University of Oxford)
Dr
Joseph Conlon
(University of Oxford)
Dr
Marcus Berg
(Karlstad University)
Mr
Nicholas Jennings
(University of Oxford)
Dr
Sven Krippendorf
(Physikalisches Institut, University of Bonn)
