GRB multi-TeV detection: Beyond standard physics?

TL;DR

This paper suggests that the detection of high-energy gamma rays from GRB 221009A challenges standard physics due to EBL absorption, but ALP-photon interactions in magnetized media offer a natural explanation, hinting at new physics beyond the standard model.

Contribution

It introduces ALP-photon interactions as a mechanism to explain the GRB 221009A detection, providing a novel astrophysical probe for ALP existence beyond conventional models.

Findings

ALP-photon interactions can explain high-energy gamma-ray detection

Standard physics models struggle with EBL absorption at >10 TeV

Detection supports the existence of axion-like particles

Abstract

The recent detection by LHAASO up to 18 TeV of the gamma ray burst GRB 221009A at redshift $z = 0.151$ challenges standard physics because of the strong absorption due to the extragalactic background light (EBL) for photons with energies above 10 TeV. Emission models partially avoiding EBL absorption proposed to explain such an event are unsatisfactory since they require peculiar and contrived assumptions. By introducing in magnetized media the interaction of photons with axion-like particles (ALPs) - which are a generic prediction of most theories extending the standard model of particle physics towards a more satisfying theory - the detection of GRB 221009A can be naturally explained, thereby providing a strong hint at ALP existence.