# Searching for the QCD Axion with Gravitational Microlensing

## TL;DR

This paper uses gravitational microlensing data to set the first observational constraints on the fraction of dark matter in axion miniclusters, providing a new method to test the QCD axion hypothesis.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to constrain axion miniclusters using microlensing, offering the first observational bounds on their abundance in relation to the QCD axion.

## Key findings

- Bound on minicluster fraction: $f_{MC}<0.22(m_a/100\mu eV)^{-0.57}$.
- Forecasted that 10 nights of Subaru observations could constrain $f_{MC}\lesssim 0.1$.
- First observational constraints linking axion miniclusters to dark matter.

## Abstract

The phase transition responsible for axion dark matter production can create large amplitude isocurvature perturbations which collapse into dense objects known as axion miniclusters. We use microlensing data from the EROS survey, and from recent observations with the Subaru Hyper Suprime Cam to place constraints on the minicluster scenario. We compute the microlensing event rate for miniclusters treating them as spatially extended objects with an extended mass function. Using the published bounds on the number of microlensing events we bound the fraction of DM collapsed into miniclusters, $f_{\rm MC}$. For an axion with temperature dependent mass consistent with the QCD axion we find $f_{\rm MC}<0.22(m_a/100\,\mu\text{eV})^{-0.57}$, which represents the first observational constraint on the minicluster fraction. We forecast that a high-efficiency observation of ten nights with Subaru would be sufficient to constrain $f_{\rm MC}\lesssim 0.1$ over the entire QCD axion mass range. We make various approximations to derive these constraints and dedicated analyses by the observing teams of EROS and Subaru are necessary to confirm our results. If accurate theoretical predictions for $f_{\rm MC}$ can be made in future then microlensing can be used to exclude, or discover, the QCD axion. Further details of our computations are presented in a companion paper.