Munich Dark Matter Meeting -- Patricia Diego Palazuelos -- Axion birefringence: probing ultra-light particles with polarized light

Tuesday 21 Apr 2026, 12:30 → 13:30 Europe/Berlin

A.2.25 - Atlas West (MPP)

Remote access via zoom: https://zoom.us/j/93858139672?pwd=NkNPZ1ltY2xnT2E1bS94M3VBZ1JUQT09 (Meeting ID: 938 5813 9672, Passcode: 522402)

 

https://wwwmpa.mpa-garching.mpg.de/darkmatter/

 

 

The axionlike particles (ALP) that arise naturally in many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics could explain the nature of dark matter and/or dark energy. Assuming they are weakly coupled to electromagnetism, ALP properties are often constrained through the ALP-photon conversion expected in the presence of strong magnetic fields. Here however I will focus on another consequence of the ALP-photon coupling: the rotation of the photon's polarization due to axion birefringence. During the talk I will review what information axion birefringence measurements using different astrophysical and cosmological observables can provide about the mass, formation mechanism, and evolution of ALP, and comment on present results.