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Plasma instability splits axion-photon conversion lines
Abstract
The axion coupling to electromagnetism may leave signatures of uncertain nature in astrophysical spectra; one is thought to be a single line centered at the axion frequency ω= √((ma c2/ℏ)2 + c2 ka2), with ma c2/ℏ the axion Compton frequency and ℏ ka its momentum. If a parametric plasma instability is excited, this signature is transformed into a set of lines, which may be proportionally spaced and linearly polarized. A Crab pulsar signal at a frequency near recent cosmological predictions for the axion Compton frequency has some qualitative similarity to this signature, though this similarity is not evidence that the signal is caused by axions.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{tolman2026plasma,
title = {{Plasma instability splits axion-photon conversion lines}},
author = {Elizabeth A. Tolman},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.28704},
eprint = {2609.28704},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.28704},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Plasma instability splits axion-photon conversion lines
AU - Elizabeth A. Tolman
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.28704
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.28704
AB - The axion coupling to electromagnetism may leave signatures of uncertain nature in astrophysical spectra; one is thought to be a single line centered at the axion frequency ω= √((m_a c^2/ℏ)^2 + c^2 k_a^2), with m_a c^2/ℏ the axion Compton frequency and ℏ k_a its momentum. If a parametric plasma instability is excited, this signature is transformed into a set of lines, which may be proportionally spaced and linearly polarized. A Crab pulsar signal at a frequency near recent cosmological predictions for the axion Compton frequency has some qualitative similarity to this signature, though this similarity is not evidence that the signal is caused by axions.
ER -