Constraining resonant photon-axion conversions in the Early Universe
Abstract
The presence of a primordial magnetic field would have induced resonant conversions between photons and axion-like particles (ALPs) during the thermal history of the Universe. These conversions would have distorted the blackbody spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In this context, we derive bounds on the photon-ALP resonant conversions using the high precision CMB spectral data collected by the FIRAS instrument on board of the Cosmic Background Explorer. We obtain upper limits on the product of the photon-ALP coupling constant g times the magnetic field strength B down to g B > 10^{-13} GeV^{-1} nG for ALP masses below the eV scale.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0905.4865,
title = {Constraining resonant photon-axion conversions in the Early Universe},
author = {Alessandro Mirizzi and Javier Redondo and Guenter Sigl},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0905.4865},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Revised version (19 pages, 3 eps figures). Matches the one published on JCAP. Discussion enlarged in the conclusions