Related papers: The axion shield
The origin of the X-ray background spectral intensity has been a long standing problem in high energy astrophysics research. Deep X-ray surveys carried out with ROSAT and ASCA combined with the broad band spectral results of Ginga and…
Contemporary attempts to explain the existence of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using plasma-based wakefield acceleration deliberately avoid non-Standard Model particle physics. However, such proposals exploit some of the most extreme…
Pairs of misalignment-produced axions with nearby masses can experience a nonlinear resonance that leads to enhanced direct and astrophysical signatures of axion dark matter. In much of the relevant parameter space, self-interactions cause…
The observed accelerating universe indicates the presence of Dark Energy which is probably interpreted in terms of an extremely light gravitational scalar field. We suggest a way to probe this scalar field which contributes to optical…
The misalignment mechanism for axion-like particles (ALPs) is a leading explanation for dark matter. In this work we investigate ALPs with non-periodic potentials, which allow for large misalignment of the field from the minimum and make it…
In this thesis, we re-assess some aspects of axionic electrodynamics by coupling non-linear electromagnetic effects to axion physics. We present a number of motivations to justify the coupling of the axion to the photon in terms of a…
We show that axion phenomenology may be significantly different than conventionally assumed in theories which exhibit late phase transitions (below the QCD scale). In such theories one can find multiple pseudoscalars with axion-like…
We have recently shown that axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) may emit an observable stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background when they begin to oscillate in the early universe. In this note, we identify the regions of ALP…
We analyze the spectrum of axions radiated from collapse of domain walls, which have received less attention in the literature. The evolution of topological defects related to the axion models is investigated by performing field-theoretic…
Oscillations of photons into axion-like particles in a high-intensity laser field are investigated. Nonlinear QED effects are considered through the low energy behavior of the vacuum polarization tensor, which is derived from the…
One of the most compelling candidates for Dark Matter (DM) are light pseudo-scalar particles (axions), motivated by the strong CP problem and axiverse scenario in string theory. Depending on their mass and type of self-interaction, these…
The separation of background and resonance contributions in pion-nucleon scattering is an often discussed issue. We investigate to what extent the background can be separated from the pole contribution. For illustration we use results from…
In light-shining-through-walls experiments, axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) are searched for by exposing an optically thick barrier to a laser beam. In a magnetic field, photons could convert into ALPs in front of the barrier and…
Axion dark matter (DM) constitutes an oscillating background that violates parity and time-reversal symmtries. Inside piezoelectric crystals, where parity is broken spontaneously, this axion background can result in a stress. We call this…
We explore the phenomenological consequences of a model with axion-like particles and hidden photons mixing with photons. In this model, the hidden photon is directly coupled to the photon, while the axion coupling is induced by an external…
There exists a growing evidence for the anomalous transparency of the Universe for energetic gamma rays. Popular explanations include conversion of photons into hypothetical axion-like particles (ALPs) and back in astrophysical magnetic…
It is shown that the Sun can become partially transparent to high energy photons in the presence of a pseudo-scalar. In particular, if the axion interpretation of the PVLAS result were true then up to 2% of GeV energy gamma rays might pass…
Axion clumps in an external magnetic field can emit electromagnetic radiation which causes them to decay. In the presence of a plasma, such radiation can become resonant if the clump frequency matches the plasma frequency. Typically, the…
The next generation of axion direct detection experiments may rule out or confirm axions as the dominant source of dark matter. We develop a general likelihood-based framework for studying the time-series data at such experiments, with a…
New pseudo-scalars, often called axion-like particles (ALPs), abound in model-building and are often associated with the breaking of a new symmetry. Traditional searches and indirect bounds are limited to light axions, typically in or below…