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 gaγγ, 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 gaγγ≲1.5×10−13GeV−1 for ma≲10−12eV, representing an order of magnitude improvement over constraints derived using the current generation of satellites.
@article{arxiv.1707.00176,
title = {Projected bounds on ALPs from Athena},
author = {Joseph P. Conlon and Francesca Day and Nicholas Jennings and Sven Krippendorf and Francesco Muia},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1707.00176},
year = {2017}
}