New Constraints on Hidden Photons using Very High Energy Gamma-Rays from the Crab Nebula

TL;DR

This paper uses very high energy gamma-ray observations from the Crab Nebula to set new constraints on hidden photon parameters, exploring a broad mass range at high energies and distances.

Contribution

It introduces a novel astrophysical method to constrain hidden photon parameters using gamma-ray data from the Crab Nebula.

Findings

New bounds on hidden photon mass and mixing angle.

Constraints cover previously unexplored energy and distance scales.

Results are consistent with existing experimental limits.

Abstract

Extensions of the standard model of particle physics, in particular those based on string theory, often predict a new U(1) gauge symmetry in a hidden sector. The corresponding gauge boson, called hidden photon, naturally interacts with the ordinary photon via gauge kinetic mixing, leading to photon - hidden photon oscillations. In this framework, one expects photon disappearance as a function of the mass of the hidden photon and the mixing angle, loosely constrained from theory. Several experiments have been carried out or are planned to constrain the mass-mixing plane. In this contribution we derive new constraints on the hidden photon parameters, using very high energy gamma-rays detected from the Crab Nebula, whose broad-band spectral characteristics are well understood. The very high energy gamma-ray observations offer the possibility to provide bounds in a broad mass range at a previously unexplored energy and distance scale. Using existing data that were taken with several Cherenkov telescopes, we discuss our results in the context of current constraints and consider the possibilities of using astrophysical data to search for hidden photon signatures.