In-flight positron annihilation as a probe of feebly interacting particles

Core-collapse supernovae (SNe) provide a unique environment to study feebly interacting particles (FIPs) such as axionlike particles (ALPs), sterile neutrinos, and dark photons (DPs). This paper focuses on heavy FIPs produced in SNe, whose decay produces electrons and positrons, generating observable secondary signals during their propagation and annihilation. We focus on the in-flight annihilation of positrons, which emerge as the most significant contribution to the resulting <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mi>γ</a:mi></a:math>-ray spectrum. Using data from COMPTEL and EGRET, we derive the most stringent bounds on the FIP-electron couplings for heavy ALPs, sterile neutrinos, and DPs. These results strengthen existing bounds by one to two orders of magnitude, depending on the FIP model.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Published
2025-04-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.083053
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.61

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article

In-flight positron annihilation as a probe of feebly interacting particles

Pierluca Carenza, Alessandro Lella, S. Balaji, Leonardo Mastrototaro et al.
3 citations
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
5.61
article

In-flight positron annihilation as a probe of feebly interacting particles

Pierluca Carenza, Alessandro Lella, S. Balaji, Leonardo Mastrototaro, Pedro De la Torre Luque
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Core-collapse supernovae (SNe) provide a unique environment to study feebly interacting particles (FIPs) such as axionlike particles (ALPs), sterile neutrinos, and dark photons (DPs). This paper focuses on heavy FIPs produced in SNe, whose decay produces electrons and positrons, generating observable secondary signals during their propagation and annihilation. We focus on the in-flight annihilation of positrons, which emerge as the most significant contribution to the resulting <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mi>γ</a:mi></a:math>-ray spectrum. Using data from COMPTEL and EGRET, we derive the most stringent bounds on the FIP-electron couplings for heavy ALPs, sterile neutrinos, and DPs. These results strengthen existing bounds by one to two orders of magnitude, depending on the FIP model.

Physical review. D/Physical review. D.Vol. 111(8)
University of Salerno (IT), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (IT), Stockholm University (SE), King's College London (GB), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES)
Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, European Commission, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, Vetenskapsrådet, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca, Science and Technology Facilities Council, European Research Council, Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
5.61
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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