A Continuous Galactic Line Source of Axions: The Remarkable Case of 23Na
A Continuous Galactic Line Source of Axions: The Remarkable Case of 23Na
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Abstract
We argue that Na is a potentially significant source of galactic axions. For temperatures
K — characteristic of carbon burning in the massive progenitors of supernovae and ONeMg white dwarfs — the 440 keV first excited state of
Na is thermally populated, with its repeated decays pumping stellar energy into escaping axions. Odd-A nuclear abundances are typically very low in high-temperature stellar environments (or absent entirely due to burn-up).
Na is an exception:
of the isotope is synthesized during carbon burning then maintained at
K for times ranging up to
y. Using MESA simulations, a galactic model, and sampling over progenitor masses, locations, and evolutionary stages, we find a continuous flux at earth of
/cm
s for
. Some fraction of these axions convert to photons as they propagate through the galactic magnetic field, producing a distinctive 440 keV line
ray detectable by all-sky detectors like the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI). Assuming a 1
G galactic magnetic field and a sufficiently light axion mass, we find that COSI will be able to probe
GeV
at
after two years of surveying.