Detection of dilute axion stars with stimulated decay

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to detect dilute axion stars, potentially explaining planet 9, by stimulating their decay with high-power radio beams and observing the resulting signals with terrestrial telescopes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel detection technique for dilute axion stars via stimulated decay signals, offering a way to distinguish them from other planet 9 candidates.

Findings

Stimulated decay can produce detectable signals with 50MW radio beams.

Terrestrial telescopes like SKA and FAST can observe the decay echoes.

Dilute axion stars could be identified as planet 9 candidates through this method.

Abstract

The anomalous orbits of trans-Neptunian objects can be accounted for by the planet 9 hypothesis. One intriguing possibility is that planet 9 could be a dilute axion star captured by the solar system, with the ratio of the axion star to dark matter being approximately 1/10. Although dilute axion stars can emit monochromatic signals through two-photon decay, the spontaneous decay signal is too weak to be detected by radio telescopes. However, we find that stimulated decay of the dilute axion star, which explains planet 9, can occur by directing a radio beam with a power of 50MW into the star. The resulting echo can be detected by terrestrial telescopes such as SKA, FAST, ngLOBO, and LOFAR. Therefore, the dilute axion star can be distinguished from other planet 9 candidates, such as a primordial black hole or a free-floating planet captured by the solar system.