Constraints on axion-like particles from X-ray observations of NGC1275

Journal article

Axion-like particles (ALPs) can induce localized oscillatory modulations in the spectra of photon sources passing through astrophysical magnetic fields. Ultra-deep Chandra observations of the Perseus cluster contain over 5× {10}5 counts from the active galactic nucleus (AGN) of the central cluster galaxy NGC1275 and represent a data set of extraordinary quality for ALP searches. We use this data set to search for X-ray spectral irregularities from the AGN. The absence of irregularities at the { O }(30 % ) level allows us to place leading constraints on the ALP-photon mixing parameter {g}aγ γ ≲ 1.4{--}4.0× {10}-12 {{GeV}}-1 for {m}a≲ {10}-12 {eV}, depending on assumptions on the magnetic field realization along the line of sight.

Authors: Berg, M; Conlon, J; Day, F; Jennings, N; Krippendorf, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Journal: Astrophysical Journal
• Volume: 847
• Issue: 2
• Article number: 101
• Publication date: 2017-09-27
• Acceptance date: 2017-09-05
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa8b16
• EISSN: 1538-4357
• ISSN: 0004-637X
• Language: English
• Keywords: elementary particles; X-rays: individual (NGC1275); X-rays: galaxies: clusters