重新审视JWST对衰变轴子暗物质的灵敏度
Re-examining the sensitivity of JWST to decaying axion dark matter
浏览论文内容
中文总结 AI 辅助
本研究通过定制数据缩减和非参数推断，重新评估JWST对衰变轴子暗物质的灵敏度，排除了特定质量范围的QCD轴子，并指出先前最强灵敏度不可达，现有灵敏度受系统性限制。
中文摘要 AI 辅助
一个由观测到的暗物质（DM）丰度构成的电子伏特尺度QCD轴子，预计会在红外能量范围内产生一条光子谱线，该谱线在詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜（JWST）收集的数据中应是可观测或接近可观测的，更一般的类轴子粒子（ALPs）在更广泛的质量和耦合范围内也可能如此。这促使了许多工作，要么预测JWST对QCD轴子的灵敏度，要么通过分析公开可用的数据集来实现这些灵敏度。目前，尚无共识；主要分析在轴子耦合灵敏度方面存在高达一个数量级的差异，这意味着在原始通量密度灵敏度上存在数量级的差异，并且这些分析与先前预测之间的一致性尚不明确。我们通过一种定制的数据缩减和灵活的非参数推断程序来解决这些悬而未决的差异，该程序对电子伏特尺度轴子暗物质的衰变产生了良好控制和稳健的限制，与先前预测的灵敏度一致。我们进一步证明，先前声称的最强灵敏度超过了从它们所源自的数据集进行任何分析所能达到的灵敏度。我们使用NIRSpec数据排除了质量在$500\\,\mathrm{meV}$至$2.5\\,\mathrm{eV}$之间的QCD轴子暗物质，同时对质量在$100\\,\mathrm{meV}$至$500\\,\mathrm{meV}$之间的ALP暗物质设置了与其他天体物理约束互补的限制。然而，我们发现这些灵敏度受到系统性限制，因此除非仪器建模和数据缩减流程有显著改进，否则不太可能通过正在进行的数据收集或重新分析来提高。
英文摘要
An eV-scale QCD axion comprising the observed dark matter (DM) abundance is expected to generate a photon line at infrared energies that would be observable or near-observable in data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as might more general axion-like particles (ALPs) over a broader range of masses and couplings. This has motivated a number of efforts to either forecast JWST sensitivities to a QCD axion or realize them through analyses of publicly available datasets. At present, no consensus exists; leading analyses disagree by as much as an order of magnitude in terms of axion-coupling sensitivity, implying an orders-of-magnitude discrepancy in raw flux density sensitivity, and consistency between the analyses and prior forecasts is unclear. We address these outstanding discrepancies with a bespoke data reduction and flexible nonparametric inference procedure that lead to well-controlled and robust limits on the decay of eV-scale axion DM, consistent with previously forecasted sensitivities. We further demonstrate that the strongest previously claimed sensitivities exceed those attainable by any analysis of the datasets from which they were derived. We exclude QCD axion DM for masses between $500\,\mathrm{meV}$ and $2.5\,\mathrm{eV}$ using NIRSpec data, while setting limits on ALP DM complementary to other astrophysical constraints at masses between $100\,\mathrm{meV}$ and $500\,\mathrm{meV}$. However, we find the sensitivities to be systematically limited, and therefore unlikely to be improved upon by ongoing data collection or re-analysis unless instrumental modeling and data reduction pipelines improve considerably.
发表机构
- University of Wisconsin-Madison（威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校）
- Tufts University（塔夫茨大学）
- Flatiron Institute（平顿研究所）
- CERN（欧洲核子研究中心）
- INFN Roma（意大利国家核物理研究所罗马分部）
- Weizmann Institute of Science（魏兹曼科学研究所）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。
