Speaker
Description
X-ray telescopes have become powerful tools in the search for weakly interacting slim particles (WISPs), in particular QCD axions and axion-like particles (ALPs). Through the Primakoff effect, astrophysical magnetic fields can induce axion-photon conversion, giving X-ray observatories unique sensitivity over a broad axion-mass range. This talk reviews recent progress in ALPs searches with NASA's NuSTAR, the first and currently only focusing hard X-ray space telescope. First, observations of the starburst galaxy M82 yield stringent constraints on heavy decaying ALPs in the 30-500 keV range, probing axion-photon couplings in previously unexplored regions of parameter space. Second, NuSTAR observations of the red supergiant Betelgeuse set new and competitive limits on axion-nucleon couplings for masses below the neV, exploiting axion production via nuclear transitions in stellar interiors. Together, these results improve upon earlier astrophysical bounds and motivate future X-ray space missions such as Athena and AXIS, which are expected to extend sensitivity to even fainter axion signatures.
| Main Contribution topic | Axion / Sterile |
|---|---|
| Secondary contribution topic | Astrophysical observations |