[en] We show that the parameter space of axion-like particles can be severly constrained using high-precision measurements of quasar polarisations. Robust limits are derived from the measured bounds on optical circular polarisation and from the distribution of linear polarisations of quasars. As an outlook, this technique can be improved by the observation of objects located behind clusters of galaxies, using upcoming space-borne X-ray polarimeters.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Payez, Alexandre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Physique des astroparticules
Cudell, Jean-René ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Physique des astroparticules
Hutsemekers, Damien ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Astroph. extragalactique et observations spatiales (AEOS)
Language :
English
Title :
New polarimetric constraints on axion-like particles
Publication date :
20 July 2012
Journal title :
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
eISSN :
1475-7516
Publisher :
Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP), Bristol, United Kingdom
J. Jaeckel and A. Ringwald, 2010 The low-energy frontier of particle physics, Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 60 405 [1002.0329]
P. Sikivie and Q. Yang, 2009 Bose-Einstein condensation of dark matter axions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103 111301 [0901.1106]
M. Christensson and M. Fairbairn, 2003 Photon-axion mixing in an inhomogeneous universe, Phys. Lett. B 565 10 [astro-ph/0207525]
A. De Angelis, M. Roncadelli and O. Mansutti, 2007 Evidence for a new light spin-zero boson from cosmological gamma-ray propagation?, Phys. Rev. D 76 121301 [0707.4312]
M. Simet, D. Hooper and P.D. Serpico, 2008 The milky way as a kiloparsec-scale axionscope, Phys. Rev. D 77 063001 [0712.2825]
C. Burrage, A.-C. Davis and D.J. Shaw, 2009 Active galactic nuclei shed light on axion-like-particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 201101 [0902.2320]
M. Fairbairn, T. Rashba and S.V. Troitsky, 2011 Photon-axion mixing and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays from BL Lac type objects - shining light through the universe, Phys. Rev. D 84 125019 [0901.4085]
A. Mirizzi and D. Montanino, 2009 Stochastic conversions of TeV photons into axion-like particles in extragalactic magnetic fields J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. JCAP12(2009)004 [0911.0015]
M. Sánchez-Conde, D. Paneque, E. Bloom, F. Prada and A. Domínguez, 2009 Hints of the existence of axion-like-particles from the gamma-ray spectra of cosmological sources, Phys. Rev. D 79 123511 [0905.3270]
G.G. Raffelt and D.S. Dearborn, 1987 Bounds on hadronic axions from stellar evolution, Phys. Rev. D 36 2211
G.G. Raffelt, 1996 Stars as laboratories for fundamental physics, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago U.S.A. & London U.K. [http://inspirehep.net/record/430034]
CAST collaboration, K. Zioutas et al., 2005 First results from the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 121301 [hep-ex/0411033] (Pubitemid 40629884)
J.W. Brockway, E.D. Carlson and G.G. Raffelt, 1996 SN1987A gamma-ray limits on the conversion of pseudoscalars, Phys. Lett. B 383 439 [astro-ph/9605197] (Pubitemid 126389095)
D. Hutsemékers, 1998 Evidence for very large-scale coherent orientations of quasar polarization vectors, http://aa.springer.de/papers/ 8332002/2300410/small.htm Astron. Astrophys. 332 410
D. Hutsemékers and H. Lamy, 2001 Confirmation of the existence of coherent orientations of quasar polarization vectors on cosmological scales, Astron. Astrophys. 367 381 [astro-ph/0012182]
D. Hutsemékers, R. Cabanac, H. Lamy and D. Sluse, 2005 Mapping extreme-scale alignments of quasar polarization vectors, Astron. Astrophys. 441 915 [astro-ph/0507274] (Pubitemid 41453936)
P. Jain, G. Narain and S. Sarala, 2004 Large-scale alignment of optical polarizations from distant QSOs using coordinate-invariant statistics, Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 347 394 [astro-ph/0301530] (Pubitemid 38069148)
P. Sikivie, 1983 Experimental tests of the invisible axion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 51 1415 [Erratum ibid 52 (1984) 695]
G. Raffelt and L. Stodolsky, 1988 Mixing of the photon with low mass particles, Phys. Rev. D 37 1237
P. Jain, S. Panda and S. Sarala, 2002 Electromagnetic polarization effects due to axion-photon mixing, Phys. Rev. D 66 085007 [hep-ph/0206046]
S. Das, P. Jain, J.P. Ralston and R. Saha, 2005 Probing dark energy with light: propagation and spontaneous polarization J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. JCAP06(2005)002 [hep-ph/0408198]
M.Y. Piotrovich, Y. Gnedin and T. Natsvlishvili, Photon-axion-like particle coupling constant and cosmological observations, [0805.3649]
A. Payez, J.R. Cudell and D. Hutsemékers, 2008 Axions and polarisation of quasars, AIP Conf. Proc. 1038 211 [0805.3946]
D. Hutsemékers et al., 2011 Large-scale alignments of quasar polarization vectors: evidence at cosmological scales for very light pseudoscalar particles mixing with photons? ASP Conf. Ser. 449 441 [0809.3088]
A. Payez, J.R. Cudell and D. Hutsemékers, 2009 Axion-like particles and circular polarisation of active galactic nuclei, in Proceedings of the 5 th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, J. Jaeckel, A. Lindner and J. Redondo eds., (Verlag Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg Germany), pg. 133 [0911.0585]
A. Payez, J.R. Cudell and D. Hutsemékers, 2010 On the circular polarisation of light from axion-photon mixing, AIP Conf. Proc. 1241 444 [0911.3145]
A. Payez, D. Hutsemékers and J.R. Cudell, 2010 Large-scale coherent orientations of quasar polarisation vectors: interpretation in terms of axion-like particles, AIP Conf. Proc. 1274 144 [1003.2213]
N. Agarwal, A. Kamal and P. Jain, 2011 Alignments in quasar polarizations: pseudoscalar-photon mixing in the presence of correlated magnetic fields, Phys. Rev. D 83 065014 [0911.0429]
D. Hutsemékers, B. Borguet, D. Sluse, R. Cabanac and H. Lamy, 2010 Optical circular polarization in quasars, Astron. Astrophys. 520 L7 [1009.4049]
A. Payez, J.R. Cudell and D. Hutsemékers, 2011 Can axionlike particles explain the alignments of the polarizations of light from quasars?, Phys. Rev. D 84 085029 [1107.2013]
P. Tiwari and P. Jain, Polarization alignment in JVAS/CLASS flat spectrum radio surveys, [1201.5180]
A. Payez, 2012 Cornering the axionlike particle explanation of quasar polarizations, Phys. Rev. D 85 087701 [1203.5299]
A. Payez, J.R. Cudell and D. Hutsemékers, 2011 New constraints on very light pseudoscalars, in Proceedings of the 7 th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, K. Zioutas and M. Schumann eds., (Verlag Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg Germany), pg. 147 [1204.6614]
R. Gill and J.S. Heyl, 2011 Constraining the photon-axion coupling constant with magnetic white dwarfs, Phys. Rev. D 84 085001 [1105.2083]
D. Horns, L. Maccione, A. Mirizzi and M. Roncadelli, 2012 Probing axion-like particles with the ultraviolet photon polarization from active galactic nuclei in radio galaxies, Phys. Rev. D 85 085021 [1203.2184]
H.S. Stockman, R.L. Moore and J.R.P. Angel, 1984 The optical polarization properties of 'normal' quasars, Astrophys. J. 279 485
G. Berriman, G.D. Schmidt, S.C. West and H.S. Stockman, 1990 An optical polarization survey of the Palomar-Green bright quasar sample, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 74 869
R.L. Moore and H.S. Stockman, 1984 A comparison of the properties of highly polarized QSOs versus low-polarization QSOs, Astrophys. J. 279 465
M.S. Brotherton et al., 1998 Discovery of radio-loud broad absorption line quasars using ultraviolet excess and deep radio selection, Astrophys. J. 505 L7 [Erratum ibid 571 (2002) L191] (Pubitemid 128137920)
D. Hutsemékers, H. Lamy and M. Remy, 1998 Polarization properties of a sample of broad absorption line and gravitationally lensed quasars Astron. Astrophys. 340 371
G. Schmidt and D. Hines, 1999 The polarization of broad absorption line QSOS, Astrophys. J. 512 125
H. Lamy and D. Hutsemékers, 2000 Optical polarization of 47 quasi-stellar objects: the data, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. 142 451
D. Sluse, D. Hutsemékers, H. Lamy, R. Cabanac and H. Quintana, 2005 New optical polarization measurements of quasi-stellar objects. The data, Astron. Astrophys. 433 757 [astro-ph/0507023] (Pubitemid 40479626)
P.S. Smith, G.D. Schmidt, D.C. Hines, R.M. Cutri and B.O. Nelson, 2002 The optical polarization of near-infrared-selected quasi-stellar objects, Astrophys. J. 569 23 (Pubitemid 37117618)
C. Impey and S. Tapia, 1990 The optical polarization properties of quasars, Astrophys. J. 354 124
C. Impey, C. Lawrence and S. Tapia, 1991 Optical polarization of a complete sample of radio sources, Astrophys. J. 375 46
B.J. Wills, D. Wills, M. Breger, R.R.J. Antonucci and R. Barvainis, 1992 A survey for high optical polarization in quasars with core-dominant radio structure - is there a beamed optical continuum?, Astrophys. J. 398 454
N. Visvanathan and B.J. Wills, 1998 Optical polarization of 52 radio-loud QSOS and BL Lacertae objects, Astron. J. 116 2119 (Pubitemid 128157921)
J.F.L. Simmons and B.G. Stewart, 1985 Point and interval estimation of the true unbiased degree of linear polarization in the presence of low signal-to-noise ratios Astron. Astrophys. 142 100
J.D. Landstreet and J.R.P. Angel, 1972 Search for optical circular polarization in quasars and Seyfert nuclei, Astrophys. J. 174 L127
R.L. Moore and H.S. Stockman, 1981 The class of highly polarized quasars - observations and description, Astrophys. J. 243 60
L. Valtaoja, H. Karttunen, E. Valtaoja, N.M. Shakhovskoy and Y.S. Efimov, 1993 Optical circular polarization in two BL Lacertae objects? Astron. Astrophys. 273 393
L.O. Takalo and A. Sillanpää, 1993 Simultaneous linear and circular polarization observations of blazars 3C 66A, OJ 287 and Markarian 421, Astrophys. Space Sci. 206 191
C.D. Impey, M.A. Malkan, W. Webb and C.E. Petry, 1995 Ultraviolet spectropolarimetry of high redshift quasars with the Hubble space telescope, Astrophys. J. 440 80
L. Tommasi et al., 2001 Multiband optical polarimetry of the BL Lacertae object PKS 2155-304: intranight and long-term variability, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 132 73 (Pubitemid 33229531)
L. Tommasi et al., 2001 Multiband optical polarimetry of BL Lacertae objects with the Nordic Optical Telescope, Astron. Astrophys. 376 51
F. Patat et al., 2011 Optical atmospheric extinction over Cerro Paranal, Astron. Astrophys. 527 A91 [1011.6156]
J.P. Vallée, 2002 Faraday screen and reversal of rotation measure in the local supercluster plane, Astron. J. 124 1322 (Pubitemid 37049093)
J.P. Vallée, 2011 Magnetic fields in the galactic universe, as observed in supershells, galaxies, intergalactic and cosmic realms, New Astron. Rev. 55 91
Y. Xu, P.P. Kronberg, S. Habib and Q.W. Dufton, 2006 A Faraday rotation search for magnetic fields in large scale structure, Astrophys. J. 637 19 [astro-ph/0509826] (Pubitemid 43293241)
A. Mirizzi, G.G. Raffelt and P.D. Serpico, 2005 Photon-axion conversion as a mechanism for supernova dimming: limits from CMB spectral distortion, Phys. Rev. D 72 023501 [astro-ph/0506078]
A. Mirizzi, G.G. Raffelt and P.D. Serpico, 2008 Photon-axion conversion in intergalactic magnetic fields and cosmological consequences, Lect. Notes Phys. 741 115 [astro-ph/0607415]
T. Clarke, P. Kronberg and H. Boehringer, 2001 A new radio-X-ray probe of galaxy cluster magnetic fields, Astrophys. J. 547 L111 [astro-ph/0011281]
M. Giovannini, 2004 The magnetized universe, Int. J. Mod. Phys. D 13 391 [astro-ph/0312614] (Pubitemid 40262524)
C. Pfrommer and L.J. Dursi, 2010 Detecting the orientation of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters, Nature Phys. 6 520 [0911.2476]
P. Kronberg, R. Kothes, C. Salter and P. Perillat, 2007 Discovery of new faint radio emission on 8 ° to 3 ′ scales in the Coma field and some galactic and extragalactic implications, Astrophys. J. 659 267 [0704.3288]
C. Burrage, A.-C. Davis and D.J. Shaw, 2009 Detecting chameleons: the astronomical polarization produced by chameleon-like scalar fields, Phys. Rev. D 79 044028 [0809.1763]
S.M. Molnar and M. Birkinshaw, 1998 Search for intrasupercluster gas in the Shapley supercluster, Astrophys. J. 497 1 (Pubitemid 128057853)
S.P. Boughn, 1999 X-ray emission from the local supercluster: possible evidence for hot, diffuse gas, Astrophys. J. 526 14
A.V. Kravtsov, A.A. Klypin and Y. Hoffman, 2002 Constrained simulations of the real universe. 2. Observational signatures of intergalactic gas in the local supercluster region, Astrophys. J. 571 563 [astro-ph/0109077] (Pubitemid 37117729)
J. Swank et al., 2010 Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX (GEMS), in X-ray polarimetry: a new window in astrophysics, R. Bellazzini, E. Costa, G. Matt and G. Tagliaferri eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge U.K., pg. 251
M. Feroci and P. Soffitta, 2011 X-ray polarimeters, in High-Energy Emission from Pulsars and their Systems. Proceedings of the First Session of the Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics, D.F. Torres and N. Rea eds.,(Springer, Berlin Heidelberg Germany), pg. 585
N. Bassan, A. Mirizzi and M. Roncadelli, 2010 Axion-like particle effects on the polarization of cosmic high-energy gamma sources J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. JCAP05(2010)010 [1001.5267]
O. Mena, S. Razzaque and F. Villaescusa-Navarro, 2011 Signatures of photon and axion-like particle mixing in the gamma-ray burst jet J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. JCAP02(2011)030 [1101.1903]