First Constraints on Nuclear Coupling of Axionlike Particles from the Binary Neutron Star Gravitational Wave Event GW170817

TL;DR

This study searches for axionlike particles through gravitational wave data from GW170817, setting new constraints on their properties and excluding certain parameter ranges with no evidence of their existence.

Contribution

First constraints on nuclear-coupled axionlike particles derived from neutron star merger gravitational wave observations.

Findings

No evidence of axions found in GW170817 data.

Excluded axions with masses below 10^{-11} eV and decay constants between 1.6×10^{16} and 10^{18} GeV.

Provided the first astrophysical constraints on axions from neutron star inspirals.

Abstract

Light axion fields, if they exist, can be sourced by neutron stars due to their coupling to nuclear matter, and play a role in binary neutron star mergers. We report on a search for such axions by analysing the gravitational waves from the binary neutron star inspiral GW170817. We find no evidence of axions in the sampled parameter space. The null result allows us to impose constraints on axions with masses below $10^{-11} {\rm eV}$ by excluding the ones with decay constants ranging from $1.6\times10^{16} {\rm GeV}$ to $10^{18} {\rm GeV}$ at $3\sigma$ confidence level. Our analysis provides the first constraints on axions from neutron star inspirals, and rules out a large region in parameter space that has not been probed by the existing experiments.