Constraints on axion-nucleon coupling constants from measuring the Casimir force between corrugated surfaces

TL;DR

This study uses measurements of the Casimir force between corrugated surfaces to set new laboratory constraints on axion-like particles' coupling constants to nucleons, improving previous limits for certain mass ranges.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of constraining axion-nucleon couplings using Casimir force measurements between corrugated surfaces, surpassing previous laboratory constraints for specific axion masses.

Findings

Stronger constraints on axion-nucleon coupling constants for masses >11 eV and >8 eV.

Comparison of Casimir-based constraints with magnetometer and Eotvos experiments.

Constraints cover axion masses from 10^{-10} eV to 20 eV.

Abstract

We obtain stronger laboratory constraints on the coupling constants of axion-like particles to nucleons from measurements of the normal and lateral Casimir forces between sinusoidally corrugated surfaces of a sphere and a plate. For this purpose, the normal and lateral additional force arising in the experimental configurations due to two-axion exchange between protons and neutrons are calculated. Our constraints following from measurements of the normal and lateral Casimir forces are stronger than the laboratory constraints reported so far for masses of axion-like particles larger than 11eV and 8eV, respectively. A comparison between various laboratory constraints on the coupling constants of axion-like particles to nucleons obtained from the magnetometer measurements, Eotvos- and Cavendish-type experiments, and from the Casimir effect is performed over the wide range of masses of axion-like particles from 10^{-10}eV to 20eV.