24–26 May 2021
University of Pittsburgh
US/Eastern timezone

Hunting for axions in the solar basin

24 May 2021, 15:30
15m
Axions & ALPs Axions & ALPs I

Speaker

William DeRocco (Stanford University)

Description

A large flux of axion-like particles can be produced in the solar core. While the majority of these particles will have high velocities and escape the Sun’s gravitational pull, a small fraction of low-velocity particles will become trapped on bound orbits. Over time, an appreciable density of slow-moving axions can accumulate in this “solar basin.” Their subsequent decay to two photons provides a distinct observational signature. I will present an ongoing analysis using the NuSTAR X-ray telescope to search for the decay products of keV-scale axions trapped in the solar basin.

Primary author

William DeRocco (Stanford University)

Co-authors

Junwu Huang Ken Van Tilburg Shalma Wegsman

Presentation materials