Axion mass limit from observations of the neutron star in Cassiopeia A

Abstract

Direct Chandra observations of a surface temperature of isolated neutron star in Cassiopeia A (Cas A NS) and its cooling scenario which has been recently simultaneously suggested by several scientific teams put stringent constraints on poorly known properties of the superfluid neutron star core. It was found also that the thermal energy losses from Cas A NS are approximately twice more intensive than it can be explained by the neutrino emission. We use these unique data and well-defined cooling scenario to estimate the strength of KSVZ axion interactions with neutrons. We speculate that enlarged energy losses occur owing to emission of axions from superfluid core of the neutron star. If the axion and neutrino losses are comparable we find $c_{n}^{2}m_{a}^{2}\sim 5.7\times 10^{-6}\,\text{eV}^2$, where $m_{a}$ is the axion mass, and $c_{n}$ is the effective Peccei-Quinn charge of the neutron. (Given the QCD uncertainties of the hadronic axion models, the dimensionless constant $c_{n}$ could range from $-0.05$ to $ 0.14$.)