Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025
07:46
Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
8.5K
Supernova Axions Convert to Gamma Rays in Magnetic Fields of Progenitor Stars
Claudio Andrea Manzari1, Yujin Park1, Benjamin R Safdi1
1Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, <a href="https://ror.org/01an7q238">University of California</a>, Berkeley, California 94720, USA and Theoretical Physics Group, <a href="https://ror.org/02jbv0t02">Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory</a>, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|December 6, 2024
Summary
Supernova observations constrain axion properties. Future gamma-ray telescopes could detect axions (hypothetical particles) from supernovae and neutron star mergers, aiding dark matter research.
Area of Science:
- Astrophysics
- Particle Physics
- Cosmology
Background:
- Axions are hypothetical particles that could be produced in supernovae.
- Previous studies constrained low-mass axions (m_a ≲ 10^-10 eV) using SN1987A gamma-ray non-observations.
- Higher-mass axions remain largely unconstrained.
Purpose of the Study:
- To constrain higher-mass axions (up to m_a ~ 10^-3 eV) using SN1987A data.
- To explore the potential of future galactic supernovae for detecting axions.
- To propose a new instrument for detecting axion signals.
Main Methods:
- Analyzing axion production mechanisms: Primakoff process, nucleon bremsstrahlung, and pion conversion.
- Modeling axion-to-gamma-ray conversion in progenitor star magnetic fields.
- Utilizing SN1987A observations and proposing future observational strategies.
Main Results:
- SN1987A data provides constraints on axions with masses up to ~10^-3 eV.
- Future galactic supernovae could detect quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axions with masses > 50 μeV.
- The proposed GALactic AXion Instrument for Supernova (GALAXIS) could detect axion signals from future events.
Conclusions:
- SN1987A is a valuable tool for constraining axion properties across a wider mass range.
- Future supernova observations offer a promising avenue for discovering axions.
- The GALAXIS mission could significantly advance the search for axions and related phenomena.
Related Concept Videos
03:20Nuclear Transmutation
17.4K
Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one nuclide into another. It can occur by the radioactive decay of a nucleus, or the reaction of a nucleus with another particle. The first manmade nucleus was produced in Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory in 1919 by a transmutation reaction, the bombardment of one type of nuclei with other nuclei or with neutrons. Rutherford bombarded nitrogen-14 atoms with high-speed α particles from a natural radioactive isotope of radium and observed...
17.4K
01:23Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
622
In the absence of an external magnetic field, nuclear spin states are degenerate and randomly oriented. When a magnetic field is applied, the spins begin to precess and orient themselves along (lower energy) or against (higher energy) the direction of the field. At equilibrium, a slight excess population of spins exists in the lower energy state. Because the direction of the magnetic field is fixed as the z-axis, the precessing magnetic moments are randomly oriented around the z-axis.
622
01:05Atomic Nuclei: Magnetic Resonance
624
The number of nuclear spins aligned in the lower energy state is slightly greater than those in the higher energy state. In the presence of an external magnetic field, as the spins precess at the Larmor frequency, the excess population results in a net magnetization oriented along the z axis. When a pulse or a short burst of radio waves at the Larmor frequency is applied along the x axis, the coupling of frequencies causes resonance and flips the nuclear spins of the excess population from the...
624
01:11Atomic Nuclei: Larmor Precession Frequency
1.2K
The earth's gravitational field produces a 'twisting force' perpendicular to the angular momentum of a spinning mass (such as a spinning top) that causes the mass to 'wobble' around the gravitational field axis in a phenomenon called precession. Similarly, the magnetic moment (μ) of a spinning nucleus precesses due to an external magnetic field directed along the z-axis. The precession of the magnetic moment vector about the magnetic field is called Larmor precession,...
1.2K
02:45Nuclear Fusion
18.1K
The process of converting very light nuclei into heavier nuclei is also accompanied by the conversion of mass into large amounts of energy, a process called fusion. The principal source of energy in the sun is a net fusion reaction in which four hydrogen nuclei fuse and ultimately produce one helium nucleus and two positrons.
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
18.1K
01:10Generating Electromagnetic Radiations
2.6K
The German physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894) was the first to generate and detect certain types of electromagnetic waves in the laboratory. Starting in 1887, he performed a series of experiments that confirmed the existence of electromagnetic waves and verified that they travel at the speed of light. Hertz used an alternating-current RLC (resistor-inductor-capacitor) circuit that resonated at a known frequency and connected it to a loop of wire. High voltages induced across the gap in...
2.6K