Search for axion resonances in vacuum birefringence with three-beam collisions

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method using three-beam laser collisions to detect axion resonances via vacuum birefringence, potentially surpassing existing experiments in sensitivity and allowing mass scanning.

Contribution

It introduces a new experimental setup leveraging ultra-high intensity laser beams to improve axion detection sensitivity and enable mass scanning through polarization changes.

Findings

Set-up can outperform previous birefringence experiments in certain parameter regions.

Adjusting laser orientations and frequencies allows scanning of different axion masses.

Resonant contributions of short-lived axions can be detected with this method.

Abstract

We consider birefringent (i.e., polarization changing) scattering of x-ray photons at the superposition of two optical laser beams of ultra-high intensity and study the resonant contributions of axions or axion-like particles, which could also be short-lived. Applying the specifications of the Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields (HIBEF), we find that this set-up can be more sensitive than previous light-by-light scattering (birefringence) or light-shining-through-wall experiments in a certain domain of parameter space. By changing the pump and probe laser orientations and frequencies, one can even scan different axion masses.