English

Periodic Fast Radio Bursts from Axion Emission by Cosmic Superstrings

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2020-03-17 v1 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We propose that the periodic fast radio bursts of FRB 180916.J0158+65 are sourced by axion emission (mass ma1014m_{a} \sim 10^{-14} eV) from cosmic superstrings. Some of the emitted axions are converted to photons by magnetic fields as they travel along the line of sight to Earth. An impulsive burst of axion emission generates a photon signal typically lasting for milliseconds and varying with frequency in the observed manner. We find a range of parameters in our cosmic string network model consistent with the properties of FRB 180916.J0158+65. We suggest followup gravitational wave observations to test our model.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2003.07275,
  title  = {Periodic Fast Radio Bursts from Axion Emission by Cosmic Superstrings},
  author = {David F. Chernoff and Shing Yan Li and S. -H. Henry Tye},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.07275},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

15 pages, 1 figure