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  • Open Access

Constraining axion properties with radio telescopes

Patrick J. Fox1, Neal Weiner2, and Huangyu Xiao1,3

  • 1Theoretical Physics Department, Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA
  • 2Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA
  • 3Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 055038 – Published 25 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/2n16-pqdh

Abstract

Axion dark matter or any ultralight bosonic dark matter can go through Bose-Einstein condensation due to the large phase density, leading to the formation of axion stars or solitons in dark matter halo centers. The formation rate is enhanced in the presence of the substructures expected in the postinflationary scenario for the QCD axion or axionlike particles. An axion star will continue to grow until a critical mass is reached, after which it collapses and then explodes, with the emission of relativistic axions, in a process called an “axinovae.” There can also be accompanying photon emission due to the stimulated decay of axions in the coherent compact axion star. In axion models with a modest enhancement (κ∼O(10)) of the axion-photon coupling gaγ=κα/(2πfa) axinovae will contain a significant flux of radio photons. We determine the range of parameters over which axinovae can be detectable with radio transient searches.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 055038– Published 25 March, 2026
  • Received 4 September 2025
  • Accepted 23 February 2026
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