The axion shield
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
2010-03-24 v1 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
We investigate the propagation of a charged particle in a spatially constant, but time dependent, pseudoscalar background. Physically this pseudoscalar background could be provided by a relic axion density. The background leads to an explicit breaking of Lorentz invariance; as a consequence the process p-> p gamma is possible and the background acts as a shield against extremely energetic cosmic rays, an effect somewhat similar to the GZK cut-off effect. The effect is model independent and can be computed exactly. The hypothetical detection of the photons radiated via this mechanism would provide an indirect way of verifying the cosmological relevance of axions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0912.3151,
title = {The axion shield},
author = {A. Andrianov and D. Espriu and F. Mescia and A. Renau},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0912.3151},
year = {2010}
}