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Upper Limit on the QCD Axion Mass from Isolated Neutron Star Cooling

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arxiv 2111.09892 v1 pith:ABHFCHKH submitted 2021-11-18 hep-ph astro-ph.HE

classification hep-phastro-ph.HE
keywords axioncoolingaxionsisolateddatalimitsneutronnucleon
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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abstract

The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion may modify the cooling rates of neutron stars (NSs). The axions are produced within the NS cores from nucleon bremsstrahlung and, when the nucleons are in superfluid states, Cooper pair breaking and formation processes. We show that four of the nearby isolated Magnificent Seven NSs along with PSR J0659 are prime candidates for axion cooling studies because they are coeval, with ages of a few hundred thousand years known from kinematic considerations, and they have well-measured surface luminosities. We compare these data to dedicated NS cooling simulations incorporating axions, profiling over uncertainties related to the equation of state, NS masses, surface compositions, and superfluidity. Our calculations of the axion and neutrino emissivities include high-density suppression factors that also affect SN 1987A and previous NS cooling limits on axions. We find no evidence for axions in the isolated NS data, and within the context of the KSVZ QCD axion model we constrain $m_a \lesssim 16$ meV at 95% confidence. An improved understanding of NS cooling and nucleon superfluidity could further improve these limits or lead to the discovery of the axion at weaker couplings.

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Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Dark Matter and Baryon Asymmetry from Monopole-Axion Interactions

    hep-ph 2025-11 conditional novelty 8.0 of 10

    A rotating QCD axion dissipates kinetic energy via dark monopole dyon transitions, explaining dark matter and baryon asymmetry with a predicted axion decay constant below 10^9 GeV.

  2. Solar axion searches with RES-NOVA: projected sensitivity and first prototype limit

    hep-ex 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    RES-NOVA's projected 1 ton-year sensitivity reaches within a factor of ~2 of XENONnT on the solar-axion electron coupling, and a 32.4 g-day archaeological-lead prototype excludes new parts of the (g_ae, g_aγ) plane.

  3. Improved cosmological constraints on axion-lepton interactions

    hep-ph 2025-11 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    For axion masses above 0.1 eV, cosmology provides the strongest known limits on axion couplings to muons, taus, and flavor-violating tau channels, excluding decay constants up to 10^8 GeV.

  4. Axion lines from nuclear de-excitations in galactic stellar populations

    hep-ph 2025-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    No 14.4 keV axion line from 57Fe de-excitations is seen by NuSTAR toward M87, M82, M31, or the Galactic Center, yielding |g_ann x g_aγγ| < 1.1e-22 GeV^-1 for m_a < 1e-10 eV.

  5. Axion Quality Problem: Keep Calm and Baryon

    hep-ph 2025-10 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    The QCD axion can be the Goldstone boson of baryon number in a minimal N_c=N_f supersymmetric QCD sector, with PQ-breaking effects suppressed by dimension N_c+2 operators.

  6. Axions at the meV Crossroads: Theory, Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Experiments

    hep-ph 2026-03 conditional novelty 2.0 of 10

    The meV axion window is presented as a coherent, cross-validated search program in which string theory, stellar cooling, dark matter, and new detector concepts converge on the same mass range.

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