Stellar evolution and axion-like particles: new constraints and hints from globular clusters in the GAIA DR3 data

TL;DR

This study uses Gaia DR3 data of globular clusters to set new constraints on axion-like particles, suggesting a possible nonzero ALP-photon coupling and improving our understanding of stellar evolution impacts.

Contribution

It provides the first constraints on ALP-electron coupling and hints at a nonzero ALP-photon coupling using Gaia data, advancing stellar physics and particle physics research.

Findings

Upper limit on ALP-electron coupling: g_{ae}<5.2×10^{-14} (95% CL)

Indication of nonzero ALP-photon coupling: g_{aγ}≈6.5×10^{-11} GeV^{-1}

Highlights need for more refined analyses with current data

Abstract

Axion-like particles (ALPs) are hypothetical pseudoscalar bosons, natural in extensions of the Standard Model. Their interactions with ordinary matter and radiation are suppressed, making it challenging to detect them in laboratory experiments. However, these particles, produced within stellar interiors, can provide an additional mechanism for energy loss, potentially influencing stellar evolution. Prominent methods for searching for such effects involve measuring the properties of red giants and helium-burning stars in globular clusters (GCs). Here we use published catalogs of stars selected as members of seven GCs on the basis of parallaxes and proper motions measured by Gaia (Data Realease 3). Making use of previously derived theoretical relations and the new data, we find the upper limit on the ALP-electron coupling, g_{ae}<5.2*10^{-14} (95% CL), and an indication (3.3 sigma) to nonzero ALP-photon coupling, g_{a\gamma}=(6.5+1.1-1.3)*10^{-11} GeV^{-1}. Given the precision of contemporary observational data, it is imperative to refine ALP constraints through more sophisticated analyses, which will be explored in detail elsewhere.