No axions from the Sun
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Description
The work of MR is supported by the INFN grants TaSP and CTA.
Abstract
Preliminary evidence of solar axions in XMM-Newton observations has quite recently been claimed by Fraser et al. as an interpretation of their detection of a seasonally-modulated excess of the X-ray background. Within such an interpretation, these authors also estimate the axion mass to be ma ≃ 2.3 × 10-6 eV. Since an axion with this mass behaves as a cold dark matter particle, according to the proposed interpretation the considered detection directly concerns cold dark matter as well. So, the suggested interpretation would lead to a revolutionary discovery if confirmed. Unfortunately, we have identified three distinct problems in this interpretation of the observed result of Fraser et al. which ultimately imply that the detected signal - while extremely interesting in itself - cannot have any relation with hypothetical axions produced by the Sun. Thus, a physically consistent interpretation of the observed seasonally-modulated X-ray excess still remains an exciting challenge.
Volume
450
Start page
L26
Issn Identifier
0035-8711
Ads BibCode
2015MNRAS.450L..26R
Rights
open.access
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