Telescope search for decaying relic axions

Daniel Grin, Giovanni Covone, Jean-Paul Kneib, Marc Kamionkowski, Andrew Blain, and Eric Jullo
Phys. Rev. D 75, 105018 – Published 25 May 2007

Abstract

A search for optical line emission from the two-photon decay of relic axions was conducted in the galaxy clusters Abell 2667 and 2390, using spectra from the VIMOS (Visible MultiObject Spectrograph) integral field unit at the Very Large Telescope. New upper limits to the two-photon coupling of the axion are derived, and are at least a factor of 3 more stringent than previous upper limits in this mass window. The improvement follows from a larger collecting area, integration time, and spatial resolution, as well as from improvements in signal to noise and sky subtraction made possible by strong-lensing mass models of these clusters. The new limits either require that the two-photon coupling of the axion be extremely weak or that the axion mass window between 4.5 eV and 7.7 eV be closed. Implications for sterile-neutrino dark matter are discussed briefly also.

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  • Received 14 November 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.75.105018

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Daniel Grin1, Giovanni Covone2, Jean-Paul Kneib3, Marc Kamionkowski1, Andrew Blain1, and Eric Jullo4

  • 1California Institute of Technology, Mail Code 130-33, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  • 2INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy
  • 3Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseilles, Traverse du Siphon, 13012 Marseilles, France
  • 4European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile

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Issue

Vol. 75, Iss. 10 — 15 May 2007

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