Limits on the axion-photon coupling from Chandrayaan-2 observations

Abstract

Axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) have gained immense attention in searches for beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics. Experiments searching for axions leverage their predicted couplings to Standard Model (SM) particles to look for observable signals. Though weak, these couplings allow axions to be produced abundantly in the interiors of stars such as the Sun. Once created, axions can escape the Sun and while passing through the solar atmosphere, oscillate into photons in the magnetic field producing x-rays. For the first time, we used data from the observation of soft x-rays from the quiet Sun during the 2019-20 solar minimum by the solar x-ray monitor (XSM), onboard India's Chandrayaan-2 lunar exploration mission, to constrain the coupling of axions to photons ($g_{a \gamma \gamma}$). Using the latest models of the solar atmosphere to calculate the magnetic field and plasma frequency, we constrain $g_{a \gamma \gamma} \lesssim (0.50 - 2.26) \times 10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at $95\%$ confidence level for axion masses $m_a \lesssim 5 \times 10^{-4}$eV.