Searching for axion forces with precision precession in storage rings

TL;DR

This paper proposes using precision storage ring experiments to detect axion-mediated forces, potentially surpassing current bounds and explaining the muon g-2 anomaly through environmental axion effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to search for axion forces using storage rings and suggests these experiments could explore new parameter space and address the muon g-2 discrepancy.

Findings

Current and planned experiments can probe new axion parameter space.

A light axion could explain the muon g-2 anomaly as an environmental effect.

Storage rings are effective tools for detecting axion-mediated forces.

Abstract

We consider different types of storage rings as precision probes of axion-mediated monopole-dipole forces. We show that current and planned experiments aiming to measure magnetic and electric dipole moments of protons, muons and electrons very precisely may explore new parts of the parameter space beyond existing laboratory bounds and, in some cases, beyond astrophysical constraints. Remarkably, a light axion coupled to muons may explain the FNAL/BNL $(g-2)_\mu$ anomaly as an environmental effect -- the coherent axion field generated by the earth nucleons induces an extra contribution to the anomalous precession frequency of the muon explaining the discrepancy with respect to the SM prediction.