Constraints on axionlike particles with H.E.S.S. from the irregularity of the PKS 2155-304 energy spectrum
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Date
2013Author
Abramowski, A.
Casanova, S.
Krüger, P.P.
Sushch, I.
Venter, C.
Vorster, M.
H.E.S.S. Collaboration
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Show full item recordAbstract
Axionlike particles (ALPs) are hypothetical light (sub-eV) bosons predicted in some extensions of the
Standard Model of particle physics. In astrophysical environments comprising high-energy gamma rays
and turbulent magnetic fields, the existence of ALPs can modify the energy spectrum of the gamma rays
for a sufficiently large coupling between ALPs and photons. This modification would take the form of an
irregular behavior of the energy spectrum in a limited energy range. Data from the H.E.S.S. observations
of the distant BL Lac object PKS 2155 304 (z ¼ 0:116) are used to derive upper limits at the 95% C.L.
on the strength of the ALP coupling to photons, g a < 2:1 10 11 GeV 1 for an ALP mass between 15
and 60 neV. The results depend on assumptions on the magnetic field around the source, which are chosen
conservatively. The derived constraints apply to both light pseudoscalar and scalar bosons that couple to
the electromagnetic field
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/16037https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.88.102003
http://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.88.102003#fulltext