Constraints on axionlike particles with H.E.S.S. from the irregularity of the PKS 2155-304 energy spectrum

H.E.S.S. COLLABORATION; MEDINA, M. C.

PHYSICAL REVIEW D - PARTICLE AND FILDS

American Physical Society

Año: 2013 vol. 88 p. 102003 - 102015

0556-2821

Axionlike particles (ALPs) are hypothetical light (sub-eV) bosons predicted in some extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. In astrophysical environments comprising high-energy gamma rays and turbulent magnetic elds, the existence of ALPs can modify the energy spectrum of the gamma rays for a suciently large coupling between ALPs and photons. This modication would take the form of an irregular behavior of the energy spectrum in a limited energy range. Data from the H.E.S.S. observations of the distant BL Lac object PKS 2155+304 (z = 0:116) are used to derive upper limits at the 95% C.L. on the strength of the ALP coupling to photons, g_gammaa < 2.1 x  10^11 GeV^-1 for an ALP mass between 15 neV and 60 neV. The results depend on assumptions on the magnetic eld around the source, which are chosen conservatively. The derived constraints apply to both light pseudoscalar and scalar bosons that couple to the electromagnetic field.