Search for solar axions produced through the axion-electron coupling gae using a new GridPix detector at CAST

A bstract We present a search for solar axions produced through the axion-electron coupling ( g ae ) using data from a novel 7-GridPix detector installed at the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST). The detector, featuring ultra-thin silicon nitride windows and multiple veto systems, collected approximately 160 hours of solar tracking data between 2017–2018. Using machine learning techniques and the veto systems, we achieved a background rate of 1.06 × 10 − 5 keV − 1 cm − 2 s − 1 at a signal efficiency of about 80% in the 0.2 to 8 keV range. Analysis of the data yielded no significant excess above background, allowing us to set a new upper limit on the product of the axion-electron and axion-photon couplings of g ae · g aγ < 7.35 × 10 − 23 GeV − 1 at 95% confidence level for axion masses below 10 meV. This result improves upon the previous best helioscope limit and demonstrates the potential of GridPix technology for rare event searches. Additionally, we derived a limit on the axion-photon coupling of g aγ < 9.0 × 10 − 11 GeV − 1 at 95% CL, which, while not surpassing CAST’s best limit, provides complementary constraints on axion models.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of High Energy Physics
Published
2025-12-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep12(2025)009
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.87
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article

Search for solar axions produced through the axion-electron coupling gae using a new GridPix detector at CAST

K. Barth, Anders C. Jakobsen, K. Zioutas, A. Özbey et al.
1 citations
Journal of High Energy Physics
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
1.87
article

Search for solar axions produced through the axion-electron coupling gae using a new GridPix detector at CAST

K. Barth, Anders C. Jakobsen, K. Zioutas, A. Özbey, David Díez-Ibáñez, Babette Döbrich, S. Kostoglou, V. Anastassopoulos, G. Cantatore, J. Z. Kamiński, H. Bräuninger, M. Karuza, T. Papaevangelou, B. Lakić, C. Cogollos, J. Golm, S. K. Solanki, A. Gardikiotis, P. Navarro, K. Zioutas, F. Caspers, L. Obis, J. Ruz, I.G. Irastorza, M. J. Pivovaroff, G. Luzón, J. Baier, T. Schiffer, Marios Maroudas, M. Schümann, C. Margalejo, Finn E. Christensen, D. H. H. Hoffmann, J. Galán, H. Fischer, K. Jakovčić, E. Ferrer-Ribas, S. Arguedas-Cuendis, K. Altenmüller, T. Vafeiadis, M. D. Hasinoff, T Dafni, M. Davenport, Todd A. Decker, José Miguel Alonso Garcia, W. Funk, C.J. Hailey, Selim Çetin, K. Desch, J. Jacoby, L. Stewart, S. Aune, I. Giomataris, J. Castel
article en
1 citations

Abstract

A bstract We present a search for solar axions produced through the axion-electron coupling ( g ae ) using data from a novel 7-GridPix detector installed at the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST). The detector, featuring ultra-thin silicon nitride windows and multiple veto systems, collected approximately 160 hours of solar tracking data between 2017–2018. Using machine learning techniques and the veto systems, we achieved a background rate of 1.06 × 10 − 5 keV − 1 cm − 2 s − 1 at a signal efficiency of about 80% in the 0.2 to 8 keV range. Analysis of the data yielded no significant excess above background, allowing us to set a new upper limit on the product of the axion-electron and axion-photon couplings of g ae · g aγ < 7.35 × 10 − 23 GeV − 1 at 95% confidence level for axion masses below 10 meV. This result improves upon the previous best helioscope limit and demonstrates the potential of GridPix technology for rare event searches. Additionally, we derived a limit on the axion-photon coupling of g aγ < 9.0 × 10 − 11 GeV − 1 at 95% CL, which, while not surpassing CAST’s best limit, provides complementary constraints on axion models.

Journal of High Energy PhysicsVol. 2025(12)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US), University of Bonn (DE), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Trieste (IT), University of Rijeka (HR), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KR), Universität Hamburg (DE), University of Freiburg (DE), University of Patras (GR), National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos" (GR), Universidad de Zaragoza (ES), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (ES), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE), Institute for Basic Science (KR), Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa (TR), Precision for Medicine (United States) (US), Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (DE), Istinye University (TR), Ruđer Bošković Institute (HR), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (RO), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste (IT), Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (FR), Quantum Technologies (Sweden) (SE), Boğaziçi University (TR), European Organization for Nuclear Research (CH), Universitat de Barcelona (ES), Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE), Columbia University (US), Xi'an Jiaotong University (CN), Technical University of Denmark (DK)
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
1.87
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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