Light Shining Through Wall Bounds on Axions From Obscured Magnetars

Abstract: Coupling of axions or axion-like particles (ALPs) with photons may lead to photons escaping optically opaque regions by oscillating into ALPs. This phenomenon may be viewed as the Light Shining through Wall (LSW) scenario. While this LSW technique has been used previously in controlled laboratory settings to constrain the ALP-photon coupling ($g_{a\gamma}$), we show that this can also be applied in astrophysical environments. We find that obscured magnetars in particular are excellent candidates for this purpose. A fraction of photons emitted by the magnetar may convert to ALPs in the magnetar neighborhood, cross the large absorption column densities, and convert back into photons due to the interstellar magnetic field. Comparing the observed flux with the estimated intrinsic flux from the magnetar, we can constrain the contribution of this process, and hence constrain $g_{a\gamma}$. The effects of resonant conversion near the magnetar as well as ALP-photon oscillations in the interstellar medium are carefully considered. Taking a suitable magnetar candidate PSR J1622-4950, we find that the ALP-photon coupling can be constrained at $g_{a\gamma} \lesssim (10^{-10} - 10^{-11})$ GeV$^{-1}$ for low mass axions ($m_a \lesssim 10^{-12}$ eV). Our study reveals the previously unrealized potential for employing the LSW technique for obscured magnetars for probing and constraining ALP-photon couplings.