Resonant Photon-Axion Mixing Driven by Dark Matter Oscillations

Abstract

Wave propagation in periodically time-dependent media can exhibit driven mode conversion that is absent in static or adiabatic descriptions. We show that photon propagation through a coherent axion dark matter background provides a natural realization of such driven dynamics. In the presence of a magnetic field, the oscillating axion field acts as a coherent temporal drive, inducing resonant photon-axion conversion when the mismatch between their dispersion relations is compensated by integer harmonics of the axion oscillation frequency, $\Delta_\gamma - \Delta_a \approx n m_a$ with $n \in \mathbb{Z}$. This driven resonance enables efficient mixing far from the conventional level-crossing regime and disappears entirely upon time averaging, explaining why it is missed in standard treatments. The process constitutes a unitary mode-conversion phenomenon that preserves the axion dark matter number density and is distinct from parametric instabilities or axion decay. A systematic description is naturally provided by Floquet theory. We develop a general framework for photon propagation in oscillating axion backgrounds and show that the resulting resonant mixing leads to characteristic polarization signatures, with potential implications for astrophysical observations such as blazar polarization.