Theory Seminar: Sebastian Hoof: Tools for axion model predictions and prospects for their detection in astrophysics

Thursday 25 Jan 2024, 16:00 → 17:00 Europe/Amsterdam

An ever-growing number of experiments is exploring the parameter space of axions, which are hypothetical particles and excellent dark matter candidates. Our knowledge about their properties is continuously improving — not just for the original QCD axion models, but also for axion-like particles (ALPs) appearing in string theory.

I will introduce these elusive particles, as well as some popular search strategies and hints for their existence in astrophysics. I will argue that open-source software tools can help us to continuously refine axion model predictions and address the computational challenges for increasingly complex multi-ALP theories. Moreover, if discovered, axions will provide us with a “new pair of eyes” to view the Universe. I will demonstrate how the Sun’s temperature profile could be reconstructed after an axion detection and briefly summarise other such prospects for axions as multi-messenger probes.