Observing axions through photon ring dimming of black holes

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抄録

It is known that magnetic fields exist near black holes and photons can go around black holes due to strong gravity. Utilizing these facts, we can probe hypothetical pseudoscalar particles, so-called axions. In fact, photons can be converted into axions when they propagate in a magnetic field. The conversion of such photons into axions leads to a dimming of the photon ring around the black hole shadow. We show that photon ring dimming can occur efficiently for supermassive black holes. Remarkably, it turns out that the maximal dimming rate of the photon ring is 25%. In the case of M87∗, dimming of 10% will be observed in the x-ray and gamma-ray bands if the angular resolution of 10⁻⁵ arcsec is achieved. The frequency band and the magnitude of the dimming depend on the axion-photon coupling and axion mass. Hence, the distorted spectrum of the photon ring provides a novel tool for detecting axions.

収録刊行物

  • Physical Review D

    Physical Review D 107 (12), 123505-, 2023-06-15

    American Physical Society (APS)

詳細情報 詳細情報について

  • CRID
    1050859758014229888
  • ISSN
    24700029
    24700010
  • HANDLE
    20.500.14094/0100482562
  • 本文言語コード
    en
  • 資料種別
    journal article
  • データソース種別
    • IRDB

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