Constraining Axion-Like Particles from observations of AGN B2 2234+28A and 3C 454.3

TL;DR

This study investigates axion-like particles by analyzing gamma-ray spectra from two active galactic nuclei, using observational data and statistical modeling to constrain axion parameters and set upper limits on their coupling strength.

Contribution

Introduces a model-dependent method utilizing AGN spectra and MCMC fitting to constrain axion-like particle parameters from observational gamma-ray data.

Findings

Estimated axion-photon coupling strength $g_{a ext{-} ext{}\gamma}$ around 3.05 x 10^{-11} GeV^{-1}

Derived axion mass $m_{a}$ approximately 5.25 x 10^{-8} eV

Set 95 ext{% CL upper limits on $g_{a ext{-} ext}\gamma$

Abstract

Axion-photon oscillation effect provides a possible explanation for the presence of very-high-energy (VHE) $\gamma$-ray signals from distant sources. In this work, we propose a model-dependent method to select possible sources that may give sufficient constraints on the axion parameters. We investigate such effect in the spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN) B2 2234+28A and 3C 454.3 based on data obtained from Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) and MAGIC U.L. We utilize the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to fit the axion parameters, yielding a result of $g_{a\gamma}=3.05^{+0.51}_{-0.31} \times 10^{-11}$ GeV$^{-1}$ for the axion-photon coupling strength and $m_{a}=5.25^{+2.35}_{-2.65} \times 10^{-8} $ eV for the axion mass. We also perform 95\% confidence level (CL) constraints to set an upper limit for $g_{a\gamma}$.