Projected bounds on ALPs from Athena

Journal article

Galaxy clusters represent excellent laboratories to search for Axion-Like Particles (ALPs). They contain magnetic fields which can induce quasi-sinusoidal oscillations in the X-ray spectra of AGNs situated in or behind them. Due to its excellent energy resolution, the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) instrument onboard the Athena X-ray Observatory will be far more sensitive to ALP-induced modulations than current detectors. As a first analysis of the sensitivity of Athena to the ALP-photon coupling $g_{a \gamma \gamma}$, we simulate observations of the Seyfert galaxy NGC1275 in the Perseus cluster using the SIXTE simulation software. We estimate that for a 200ks exposure, a non-observation of spectral modulations will constrain ${g_{a\gamma\gamma}\lesssim1.5\times10^{-13}\rm{GeV}^{-1}}$ for $m_a \lesssim 10^{-12} \rm{eV}$, representing an order of magnitude improvement over constraints derived using the current generation of satellites.

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

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Volume: 473
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 4932-4936
• Publication date: 2017-10-11
• Acceptance date: 2017-10-09
• DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stx2652
• EISSN: 1365-2966
• ISSN: 0035-8711
• Keywords: elementary particles; hep-ph; astro-ph.HE; astroparticle physics; galaxies: clusters: individual: Perseus