Kavli Affiliate: Gordan Krnjaic
| First 5 Authors: Byung Ju Park, Jae Jin Choi, Eunju Jeon, Jinyu Kim, Kyungwon Kim
| Summary:
We report new constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) using data from the
NEON experiment, which features a 16.7 kg of NaI(Tl) target located 23.7 meters
from a 2.8 GW thermal power nuclear reactor. Analyzing a total exposure of 3063
kg$cdot$days, with 1596 kg$cdot$days during reactor-on and 1467 kg$cdot$days
during reactor-off periods, we compared energy spectra to search for
ALP-induced signals. No significant signal was observed, enabling us to set
exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level. These limits explore previously
inaccessible regions of the ALP parameter space, particularly axion mass
($m_a$) around $1$ MeV/c$^2$. For ALP-photon coupling (${g_{agamma}}$), limits
reach as low as 6.24$times$ 10$^{-6}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at $m_a$ = 3.0 MeV/c$^2$,
while for ALP-electron coupling (${g_{ae}}$), limits reach 4.95$times$
10$^{-8}$ at $m_a$ = 1.02 MeV/c$^2$. This work pioneers reactor-based
exploration of the “cosmological triangle” for ALP-photon coupling and
demonstrates the potential for future reactor experiments to uncover unexplored
ALP parameter space.
| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Gordan Krnjaic”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=3