Organized by: Prof. Lu Lu

Events on Thursday, September 8th, 2022

Light at the end of the tunnel: Astrophysical searches for axion-like particles in gamma-ray energies

Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Place: Chamberlin 4274

Speaker: Milena S. Crnogorcevic, University of Maryland

Abstract: Axion-like particles (ALPs) are a well-motivated candidate for constituting a significant fraction of dark matter. They are produced in high-energy environments, such as core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), and could undergo conversion into gamma-rays in the presence of an external magnetic field, with a characteristic spectrum peaking in the 30--100-MeV energy range. CCSNe are often invoked as progenitors of ordinary long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), allowing us to conduct a search for potential ALP spectral signatures using GRB observations with Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). In this presentation, I will talk about using the Fermi LAT's low-energy (LLE) technique which, in contrast to the standard LAT analysis, allows for a larger effective area for energies down to 30 MeV. I will summarize the statistical methods used in our analysis and the underlying physical assumptions, the feasibility of the upper limits on ALP coupling from our model comparison results, and an outlook on future MeV instruments in the context of ALP searches.

Host: Ke Fang

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