Garchinger Maier-Leibnitz-Kolloquium: Neutron stars as axion laboratories

by Dr Samuel Witte (GRAPPA Institute at University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Thursday 27 Jan 2022, 16:15 → 17:15 Europe/Berlin

Online via ZOOM

The QCD axion and axion-like particles are among the most well-motivated and sought-after physics beyond the Standard Model. This is a consequence of the fact that they appear copiously in high-energy theories  and can resolve some major outstanding problems in modern particle physics (including the strong CP problem and dark matter). In this talk I will show that the magnetospheres of neutron stars, hosting large magnetic fields and a dilute inhomogeneous plasma, offer incredibly powerful probes of axion physics. I will focus in particular on novel theoretical developments and search strategies targeting: (i) resonant photon-production from axion dark matter, and (ii) the production of axions due to the collapse of vacuum gaps in the polar-caps of active neutron stars. These are promising and highly complimentary searches which offer significant promise of testing a broad range of the most
well-motivated axion parameter space.

Online via ZOOM:
               
 https://lmu-munich.zoom.us/j/98457332925?pwd=TWc3V1JkSHpyOTBPQVlMelhuNnZ1dz09

Meeting ID: 984 5733 2925
Passcode: 979953

kolloquium-27-01-22.pdf