Have Cherenkov telescopes detected a new light boson?
Marco Roncadelli, Alessandro De Angelis, Oriana Mansutti
TL;DR
Recent gamma-ray observations imply the universe is more transparent than expected, which can be explained by photon oscillations into axion-like particles in magnetic fields, supported by data from blazar 3C279.
Contribution
This paper proposes that photon-axion oscillations in extragalactic magnetic fields explain the increased transparency observed in gamma-ray spectra.
Findings
Photon oscillations can account for the observed gamma-ray transparency.
The model explains the spectrum of blazar 3C279.
Quantitative estimates support the axion-like particle hypothesis.
Abstract
Recent observations by H.E.S.S. and MAGIC strongly suggest that the Universe is more transparent to very-high-energy gamma rays than previously thought. We show that this fact can be reconciled with standard blazar emission models provided that photon oscillations into a very light Axion-Like Particle occur in extragalactic magnetic fields. A quantitative estimate of this effect indeed explains the observed data and in particular the spectrum of blazar 3C279.
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