Searching for Axions on a Higher Note: Third-Harmonic Generation from Colliding High-Intensity Laser Beams
Abstract
We propose a new laboratory strategy to generate and detect axion-like particles via third-harmonic generation induced by two non-collinear, polarised high-intensity laser beams of peak intensity of the order of 1024 W/cm2, where the third-harmonic signal is generated by the axion field. Starting from the axion-modified Maxwell equations, we analytically derive the axion-induced third-harmonic field, and show that by using state-of-the-art petawatt laser facilities, a detectable signal can be obtained over a broad range of axion masses and couplings. A key feature of the setup is that the axion-photon conversion rate can be resonantly enhanced by tuning the angle between the two beams through a mechanism that does not depend on the physical volume of the apparatus. The proposed configuration may therefore probe an unexplored region of axion parameter space and pave the way for next-generation high-power laser-based axion searches.
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BibTeX
@misc{paul2026searching,
title = {{Searching for Axions on a Higher Note: Third-Harmonic Generation from Colliding High-Intensity Laser Beams}},
author = {Ashis Paul and Leone di Mauro Villari and Davide Tedeschi and Carino Ferrante and Luca Di Luzio and Andrea Marini},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.00123},
eprint = {2609.00123},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00123},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Searching for Axions on a Higher Note: Third-Harmonic Generation from Colliding High-Intensity Laser Beams
AU - Ashis Paul
AU - Leone di Mauro Villari
AU - Davide Tedeschi
AU - Carino Ferrante
AU - Luca Di Luzio
AU - Andrea Marini
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.00123
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.00123
AB - We propose a new laboratory strategy to generate and detect axion-like particles via third-harmonic generation induced by two non-collinear, polarised high-intensity laser beams of peak intensity of the order of 10^24 W/cm^2, where the third-harmonic signal is generated by the axion field. Starting from the axion-modified Maxwell equations, we analytically derive the axion-induced third-harmonic field, and show that by using state-of-the-art petawatt laser facilities, a detectable signal can be obtained over a broad range of axion masses and couplings. A key feature of the setup is that the axion-photon conversion rate can be resonantly enhanced by tuning the angle between the two beams through a mechanism that does not depend on the physical volume of the apparatus. The proposed configuration may therefore probe an unexplored region of axion parameter space and pave the way for next-generation high-power laser-based axion searches.
ER -