Upper Limit on the QCD Axion Mass from Isolated Neutron Star Cooling

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dc.citation.articleNumber091102
dc.citation.issueNumber9
dc.citation.journalTitlePhysical Review Letters
dc.citation.volumeNumber128
dc.contributor.authorBuschmann, Malte
dc.contributor.authorDessert, Christopher
dc.contributor.authorFoster, Joshua W.
dc.contributor.authorLong, Andrew J.
dc.contributor.authorSafdi, Benjamin R.
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-15T14:45:26Z
dc.date.available2022-04-15T14:45:26Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractThe quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion may modify the cooling rates of neutron stars (NSs). The axions are produced within the NS cores from nucleon bremsstrahlung and, when the nucleons are in superfluid states, Cooper pair breaking and formation processes. We show that four of the nearby isolated magnificent seven NSs along with PSR J0659 are prime candidates for axion cooling studies because they are coeval, with ages of a few hundred thousand years known from kinematic considerations, and they have well-measured surface luminosities. We compare these data to dedicated NS cooling simulations incorporating axions, profiling over uncertainties related to the equation of state, NS masses, surface compositions, and superfluidity. Our calculations of the axion and neutrino emissivities include high-density suppression factors that also affect SN 1987A and previous NS cooling limits on axions. We find no evidence for axions in the isolated NS data, and within the context of the Kim-Shifman-Vainshtein-Zakharov QCD axion model, we constrain ma≲16 meV at 95% confidence level. An improved understanding of NS cooling and nucleon superfluidity could further improve these limits or lead to the discovery of the axion at weaker couplings.
dc.identifier.citationBuschmann, Malte, Dessert, Christopher, Foster, Joshua W., et al.. "Upper Limit on the QCD Axion Mass from Isolated Neutron Star Cooling." <i>Physical Review Letters,</i> 128, no. 9 (2022) American Physical Society: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.091102.
dc.identifier.digitalPhysRevLett-128-091102
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.091102
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/112082
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherAmerican Physical Society
dc.rightsPublished by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleUpper Limit on the QCD Axion Mass from Isolated Neutron Star Cooling
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpublisher version
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