Astrophysical signatures of axion-like particles
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Axion-like particles generically couple to electromagnetism through the E.B operator, allowing for electromagnetic production of axions and axion-to-photon conversion in the presence of background fields. Neutron stars are excellent candidates to look for axion production and conversion as they possess some of the largest magnetic fields in the Universe, some in excess of 10^15 Gauss. In this thesis I will discuss two axion scenarios leading to detectable electromagnetic signatures. I will first discuss a new production mechanism for axions near the surfaces of actively pair-producing neutron stars (pulsars). Pulsar magnetospheres admit non-stationary vacuum gaps that are characterized by non-vanishing E.B. The vacuum gaps play an important role in plasma production and electromagnetic wave emission. I show that these gaps generate axions whose energy is set by the gap oscillation frequency. The density of axions produced in a gap can be several orders of magnitude greater than the ambient dark matter density. In the strong pulsar magnetic field, a fraction of these axions may convert to photons, giving rise to broadband radio signals. Another scenario considers the possibility that axion dark matter forms dense sub-structures (stars) on very small scales. When axion stars collide with neutron stars they convert very efficiently to electromagnetic waves, giving rise to bright flashes. I will discuss the detectability of such flashes using existing and planned radio telescopes.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2022; ©2022 |
| Publication date | 2022; 2022 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Prabhu, Anirudh, (Researcher in physics) |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Dimopoulos, Savas, 1952- |
| Thesis advisor | Dimopoulos, Savas, 1952- |
| Thesis advisor | Graham, Peter (Peter Wickelgren) |
| Thesis advisor | Silverstein, Eva, 1970- |
| Degree committee member | Graham, Peter (Peter Wickelgren) |
| Degree committee member | Silverstein, Eva, 1970- |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Anirudh Prabhu. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2022. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/qs924kq2746 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2022 by Anirudh Prabhu
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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