Search for decaying eV-mass axion-like particles using gamma-ray signal from blazars

TL;DR

This study searches for signs of decaying axion-like particles in gamma-ray spectra from blazars, setting constraints on their properties and hinting at a possible ALP-induced spectral feature.

Contribution

It provides new constraints on ALP-photon coupling using combined gamma-ray data and suggests a potential ALP-related spectral bump in the EBL spectrum.

Findings

Constraints on ALP-photon coupling are improved.

Evidence suggests a possible ALP-induced spectral bump.

Future observations could verify the ALP signal.

Abstract

Decaying axion-like particles (ALP) with masses in the eV range which might occupy dark matter halos of the Milky Way and other galaxies produce a characteristic "bump" feature in the spectrum of extragalactic background light (EBL). This feature leaves an imprint on the gamma-ray spectra of distant extragalactic sources. We derive constraints on the ALP coupling to photons based on analysis of spectra of very-high-energy gamma-ray loud blazars. We combine gamma-ray spectral measurements by Fermi/LAT and Cherenkov telescopes and fit a model in which the intrinsic source spectrum is modified by pair production on photons produced by ALP decays. We constrain the amplitude of gamma-ray flux suppression by this effect. We find that the combined Fermi/LAT and VERITAS data set for the source 1ES 1218+304 currently provides the tightest constraint on ALP-two-photon coupling which is complementary to the constraints imposed by non-observation of excess energy loss in Horizontal Branch stars, by the high-resolution spectroscopic observations of galaxy clusters with optical telescopes and by the searches of ALP signal with CERN Solar Axion Telescope. Our analysis favours existence of a bump in the EBL spectrum which could be produced by ALPs in the mass range 2-3 eV and axion-photon coupling $\sim 10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$. We discuss possibilities for verification of this hint with deeper Cherenkov telescope observations of large number of blazars with current generation instruments and with the Cherenkov Telescope Array.