Fast radio bursts from axion stars moving through pulsar magnetospheres

James H. Buckley; P. S. Bhupal Dev; Francesc Ferrer; Fa Peng Huang

doi:10.1103/physrevd.103.043015

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arXiv · 2004.06486

Fast radio bursts from axion stars moving through pulsar magnetospheres

James H. Buckley·P. S. Bhupal Dev·Francesc Ferrer·Fa Peng Huang

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Abstract

We study the radio signals generated when an axion star enters the magnetosphere of a neutron star. As the axion star moves through the resonant region where the plasma-induced photon mass becomes equal to the axion mass, the axions can efficiently convert into photons, giving rise to an intense, transient radio signal. We show that a dense axion star with a mass $\sim 10^{-13}M_{\odot}$ composed of $\sim 10\: \mu$eV axions can account for most of the mysterious fast radio bursts.

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James H. Buckley, P. S. Bhupal Dev, Francesc Ferrer, Fa Peng Huang. 2020-04-14. Fast radio bursts from axion stars moving through pulsar magnetospheres. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.103.043015

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