First Constraints on the Photon Coupling of Axionlike Particles from Multimessenger Studies of the Neutron Star Merger GW170817

P. S.Bhupal Dev, Jean François Fortin, Steven P. Harris, Kuver Sinha, Yongchao Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

We use multimessenger observations of the neutron star merger event GW170817 to derive new constraints on axionlike particles (ALPs) coupling to photons. ALPs are produced via Primakoff and photon coalescence processes in the merger, escape the remnant, and decay back into two photons, giving rise to a photon signal approximately along the line of sight to the merger. We analyze the spectral and temporal information of the ALP-induced photon signal and use the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) observations of GW170817 to derive our new ALP constraints. We also show the improved prospects with future MeV γ-ray missions, taking the spectral and temporal coverage of Fermi-LAT as an example.

Original languageEnglish
Article number101003
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume132
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 8 2024

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