Related papers: A search for ultra-light axions using precision co…
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are extragalactic X-ray emitters located off-center of their host galaxy and with a luminosity in excess of a few ${10^{39}\text{ erg s}^{-1}}$, if emitted isotropically. The discovery of periodic…
We report the results of a programme of dual-epoch Chandra ACIS-S observations of five ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in nearby spiral galaxies. All five ULXs are detected as unresolved, point-like X-ray sources by Chandra, though two…
We study early and late time signatures of both QCD axion strings and hyperlight axion strings (axiverse strings). We focus on charge deposition onto axion strings from electromagnetic fields and subsequent novel neutralizing mechanisms due…
Future CMB experiments have the potential to probe the density of relativistic species at the sub-percent level. Sensitivity at this level allows light thermal relics to be detected up to arbitrarily high decoupling temperatures.…
The dark matter enclosed in a density perturbation with a large initial amplitude (delta-rho/rho > 1e-3) collapses shortly after recombination and forms an ultracompact minihalo (UCMH). Their high central densities make UCMHs especially…
Axions, encompassing both QCD axions and axion-like particles, can generate loop-induced quadratic couplings to electromagnetic field strength tensors, resulting in oscillatory shifts of the fine-structure constant. Near a Kerr black hole,…
We put robust upper limits on the average cosmological density \Omega_s of cosmic strings based on the variability properties of a large homogeneous sample of SDSS quasars. We search for an excess of characteristic variations of quasar…
Ultralight dark photons and axions are well-motivated hypothetical dark matter candidates. Both dark photon dark matter and axion dark matter can resonantly convert into electromagnetic waves in the solar corona when their mass is equal to…
The measurements of Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies made by the Planck satellite provide extremely tight upper bounds on the total neutrino mass scale ($\Sigma m_{\nu}<0.26 eV$ at $95\%$ C.L.). However, as recently discussed in the…
Dark matter is a major constituent of our universe and the axion is a prime candidate. In this article, it is shown that by exploiting the axion induced magnetization in a magnetic rod and the Faraday effect, axions in the mass range $500$…
We study cross correlations between line intensity and weak lensing maps to search for axion-like particles (ALPs). Radiative decay of eV-mass ALPs can contribute to cosmic background emissions at optical and infrared wavelengths. Line…
Axions arise in many theoretical extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics, in particular the "string axiverse". If the axion masses, $m_a$, and (effective) decay constants, $f_a$, lie in specific ranges, then axions contribute…
Gravitational waves from the binary black hole (BH) merger GW150914 may enlighten our understanding of ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), as BHs>30Msun can reach luminosities>4x10^39 erg s^-1 without exceeding their Eddington limit. It is…
We measure the large-scale real-space power spectrum P(k) using luminous red galaxies (LRGs) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and use this measurement to sharpen constraints on cosmological parameters from the Wilkinson Microwave…
We investigate the degeneracy between the effects of ultra-light axion dark matter and baryonic feedback in suppressing the matter power spectrum. We forecast that galaxy shear data from the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and…
The production of a primordial stochastic gravitational-wave background by processes occuring in the early Universe is expected in a broad range of models. Observing this background would open a unique window onto the Universe's…
The ultraluminous compact X-ray sources (ULXs) generally show a curving spectrum in the 0.7--10 keV ASCA bandpass, which looks like a high temperature analogue of the disk dominated high/soft state spectra seen in Galactic black hole…
We have searched the 1st-year WMAP W-Band CMB anisotropy map for evidence of cosmic strings. We have set a limit of $\delta = 8 \pi G \mu / c^2 < 8.2 \times 10^{-6}$ at 95% CL for statistical search for a significant number of strings in…
Ultralight scalar fields can experience runaway `superradiant' amplification near spinning black holes, resulting in a macroscopic `axion cloud' which slowly dissipates via continuous monochromatic gravitational waves. For a particular…
Several explanations for the existence of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays invoke the idea that they originate from the decay of massive particles created in the reheating following inflation. It has been suggested that the decay products can…