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Updated: Oct 14, 2025

Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
First Constraints on Nuclear Coupling of Axionlike Particles from the Binary Neutron Star Gravitational Wave Event
Jun Zhang1,2, Zhenwei Lyu3,4, Junwu Huang4
1Theoretical Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Light axion fields, if they exist, can be sourced by neutron stars due to their coupling to nuclear matter, and play a role in binary neutron star mergers. We report on a search for such axions by analyzing the gravitational waves from the binary neutron star inspiral GW170817. We find no evidence of axions in the sampled parameter space. The null result allows us to impose constraints on axions with masses below 10^{-11} eV by excluding the ones with decay constants ranging from 1.6×10^{16} to 10^{18} GeV at a 3σ confidence level. Our analysis provides the first constraints on axions from neutron star inspirals, and rules out a large region in parameter space that has not been probed by the existing experiments.
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