Phys. Rev. D 106, 123019 (2022) - Betelgeuse constraints on coupling between axionlike particles and electrons

Betelgeuse constraints on coupling between axionlike particles and electrons

Mengjiao Xiao, Pierluca Carenza, Maurizio Giannotti, Alessandro Mirizzi, Kerstin M. Perez, Oscar Straniero, and Brian W. Grefenstette

Phys. Rev. D 106, 123019 – Published 19 December 2022

Abstract

Axionlike particles (ALPs) can be produced by thermal processes in a stellar interior, escape from the star and, if sufficiently light, be converted into photons in the external Galactic magnetic field. Such a process could produce a detectable hard x-ray excess in the direction of the star. In this scenario, a promising class of targets is the red supergiants, massive stars which are experiencing the late part of their evolution. We report on a search for ALP-induced x-ray emission from Betelgeuse, produced via the combined processes of bremsstrahlung, Compton and Primakoff. Using a 50 ks observation of Betelgeuse by the NuSTAR satellite telescope, we set 95% C.L. upper limits on the ALP-electron ( $g_{a e}$ ) and ALP-photon ( $g_{a γ}$ ) couplings. For masses $m_{a} \leq (3.5 - 5.5) \times 10^{- 11} eV$ , we find $g_{a γ} \times g_{a e} < (0.4 - 2.8) \times 10^{- 24} {GeV}^{- 1}$ (depending on the stellar model and assuming a value of the regular Galactic magnetic field in the direction transverse to Betelgeuse of $B_{T} = 1.4 μ G$ ). This corresponds to $g_{a e} < (0.4 - 2.8) \times 10^{- 12}$ for $g_{a γ} > 1.0 \times 10^{- 12} {GeV}^{- 1}$ . This analysis supercedes by over an order of magnitude the limit on $g_{a e} \times g_{a γ}$ placed by the CAST solar axion experiment and is among the strongest constraints on these couplings.

Received 6 June 2022
Accepted 23 November 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.123019

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Axions Particle astrophysics Particle dark matter

Axion-like particles

Particles & Fields

Authors & Affiliations

Mengjiao Xiao ^1,*, Pierluca Carenza^2,†, Maurizio Giannotti ^3,‡, Alessandro Mirizzi ^4,5,§, Kerstin M. Perez^1,∥, Oscar Straniero^6,¶, and Brian W. Grefenstette^7,**

¹Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
²The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden
³Physical Sciences, Barry University, 11300 Northeast 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores, Florida 33161, USA
⁴Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica Michelangelo Merlin, Via Amendola 173, 70126 Bari, Italy
⁵Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare—Sezione di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
⁶INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico dAbruzzo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
⁷Cahill Center for Astrophysics, 1216 East California Boulevard, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

^*mjxiao@mit.edu
^†pierluca.carenza@fysik.su.se
^‡mgiannotti@barry.edu
^§alessandro.mirizzi@ba.infn.it
^∥kmperez@mit.edu
^¶oscar.straniero@inaf.it
^**bwgref@srl.caltech.edu

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Vol. 106, Iss. 12 — 15 December 2022

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Figure 1
Expected ALP fluxes from electron-ion bremsstrahlung (black), Compton (red), and Primakoff (blue) production using $g_{a e} = 10^{- 13}$ , $g_{a γ} = 10^{- 11} {GeV}^{- 1}$ , and a model of Betelgeuse with $t_{c c} = 480 years$ (model 7 in Table 1).
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Figure 2
Predicated x-ray spectra arriving at the Earth, before the instrument response, for $m_{a} = 1.0 \times 10^{- 11} eV$ , $B_{T} = 1.4 μ G$ , $g_{a γ} = 1.5 \times 10^{- 11} {GeV}^{- 1}$ and $g_{a e} = 1.0 \times 10^{- 13}$ .
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Figure 3
Top: x-ray spectra from FPMA (left) and FPMB (right) for the Betelgeuse source (red) and background (gray and blue for before and after normalization) regions. The error bars overlaid are the statistic uncertainties ( $\sqrt{N}$ ). Bottom: source spectra after subtracting the normalized background. The errors are calculated by Sumw2 with ROOT software [44]. The predicted ALP-produced x-ray spectra assuming transverse magnetic field $B_{T} = 1.4 μ G$ , time until core collapse $t_{c c} = 3.6 years$ , mass $m_{a} = 10^{- 11} eV$ , and couplings $g_{a γ} = 1.0 \times 10^{- 11} {GeV}^{- 1}$ and $g_{a e} = 1.5 \times 10^{- 13}$ , that would be detected by the NuSTAR instrument are overlaid. The stellar model parameters are described in Table 1. The spectra are binned to a width of 1 keV, though analysis is performed on unbinned data.
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Figure 4
Predicted x-ray spectra from the combined process of bremsstrahlung, Compton and Primakoff after NuSTAR instrument response for $m_{a} = 1.0 \times 10^{- 11} eV$ , $B_{T} = 1.4 μ G$ , $t_{c c} = 6900 yr$ , and the given combinations of $g_{a γ}$ and $g_{a e}$ .
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Figure 5
The 95% C.L. upper limit on $g_{a e}$ as a function of $g_{a γ}$ for $m_{a} \leq 3.5 \times 10^{- 11} eV$ . The solid black lines show the upper limit for each stellar model assuming a representative value of $B_{T} = 1.4 μ G$ [38], with the red band indicating the uncertainty due to this unknown evolutionary state; the dashed red lines show the upper limit for the most conservative ( $B_{T} = 0.4 μ G$ and $t_{c c} = 1.55 \times 10^{5} yrs$ ) and most optimistic case ( $B_{T} = 3.0 μ G$ and $t_{c c} = 3.6 yrs$ ). Overlaid are the bounds from the CAST experiment [49] (95% C.L.), PandaX-II complete data [50] (90% C.L.), XENONnT [51], red-giant branch (RGB) observations [52, 53] (95% C.L.), and Chandra observations of magnetic white dwarf [54] (95% C.L.). The region of $g_{a γ}$ excluded by our previous analysis [24] is labeled, with the hatched band indicating the uncertainty due to stellar modeling. The constraints on $g_{a γ}$ from CAST latest results [55] and horizontal branch (HB) stars in globular clusters [56, 57] are also indicated.
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Figure 6
The 95% C.L. upper limits of $g_{a e} \times g_{a γ}$ as a function of ALP mass. The solid black lines show the upper limit for each stellar model, assuming a representative value of $B_{T} = 1.4 μ G$ [38], with the red band indicating the uncertainty due to this unknown evolutionary state. The constraints will scale with different $B_{T}$ as in Eq. (4), the two dashed red lines show the upper limit for the most conservative ( $B_{T} = 0.4 μ G$ and $t_{c c} = 1.55 \times 10^{5} yrs$ ) and most optimistic case ( $B_{T} = 3.0 μ G$ and $t_{c c} = 3.6 yrs$ ). Overlaid are the limit from CAST [49] and the projected sensitivity of IAXO [20], as well as the limits from Suzaku [58] and Chandra observations of magnetic white dwarfs [54].
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Physical Review D

covering particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology

Betelgeuse constraints on coupling between axionlike particles and electrons

Mengjiao Xiao, Pierluca Carenza, Maurizio Giannotti, Alessandro Mirizzi, Kerstin M. Perez, Oscar Straniero, and Brian W. Grefenstette

Phys. Rev. D 106, 123019 – Published 19 December 2022

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Physical Review D

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Betelgeuse constraints on coupling between axionlike particles and electrons

Mengjiao Xiao, Pierluca Carenza, Maurizio Giannotti, Alessandro Mirizzi, Kerstin M. Perez, Oscar Straniero, and Brian W. Grefenstette

Phys. Rev. D 106, 123019 – Published 19 December 2022

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