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arXiv · 2305.01002

First Constraints on the Photon Coupling of Axion-like Particles from Multimessenger Studies of the Neutron Star Merger GW170817

P. S. Bhupal Dev·Jean-François Fortin·Steven P. Harris·Kuver Sinha·Yongchao Zhang
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Abstract

We use multimessenger observations of the neutron star merger event GW170817 to derive new constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) coupling to photons. ALPs are produced via Primakoff and photon coalescence processes in the merger, escape the remnant and decay back into two photons, giving rise to a photon signal approximately along the line-of-sight to the merger. We analyze the spectral and temporal information of the ALP-induced photon signal, and use the Fermi-LAT observations of GW170817 to derive our new ALP constraints. We also show the improved prospects with future MeV gamma-ray missions, taking the spectral and temporal coverage of Fermi-LAT as an example.

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P. S. Bhupal Dev, Jean-François Fortin, Steven P. Harris, Kuver Sinha, Yongchao Zhang. 2023-05-01. First Constraints on the Photon Coupling of Axion-like Particles from Multimessenger Studies of the Neutron Star Merger GW170817. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.132.101003

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