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    Multiperiod Fermi-LAT and LHAASO constraints on axionlike particles from Mrk 421 data via χ2 profile likelihood with Gaussian copula correlations

    Longhua Qin1, Jiancheng Wang2, Chuyuan Yang2, Huaizhen Li1,*, Ao Wang1,†, Weiwei Na1, Hushan Xu1, Zhongtao Han1, Xiaogu Zhong3 et al.

    Zunli Yuan4, Yubin Li5, and Guangbo Long6,‡

    • 1Department of Physics, Yuxi Normal University, Yuxi, Yunnan, 653100, People’s Republic of China
    • 2Yunnan Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, 650011, People’s Republic of China
    • 3College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing, Yunnan, 655011, People’s Republic of China
    • 4Department of Physics and Synergistic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, 40081, People’s Republic of China
    • 5School of Engineering and Technology, Baoshan University, Baoshan, Yunnan, 678000, People’s Republic of China
    • 6School of Intelligent Engineering, Shaoguan University, Shaoguan, Guangdong, 512005, People’s Republic of China

    • *Contact author: lhz@yxnu.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: wangao@yxnu.edu.cn
    • ‡Contact author: 727406989@qq.com

    Phys. Rev. D 114, 083051 – Published 28 October, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jw8n-81yg

    Abstract

    We present a joint multi-period analysis of axionlike particles (ALPs) using five sets of simultaneous Fermi-LAT and LHAASO observations of the TeV blazar Mrk 421. Photon-ALP oscillations are calculated self-consistently together with extragalactic background light (EBL) absorption for two representative jet emission models: a two-zone hybrid model and a single-zone hadronic model. To account for weak correlations among different observational epochs, we adopt a χ2-based profile analysis combined with a Gaussian copula (ρ=0.03). Nuisance parameters are optimized under the no-ALP hypothesis before profiling the ALP parameters ma and gaγ. In the low-mass regime (ma≲1  neV) we obtain a 95% CL upper limit of gaγ=6.35×10−13  GeV−1. Over the full mass range 0.1–500 neV, the most conservative 95% CL upper limits are gaγ<6.69×10−12  GeV−1 (two zone) and gaγ<7.37×10−12  GeV−1 (single zone). Variations of the EBL template, the Galactic and intergalactic magnetic-field models, the spectral binning, and residual instrumental systematics change these limits by only a few percent. The jet magnetic field is the leading systematic and can shift the low-mass bound by a factor of a few; only a substantially weaker single-zone field degrades the constraint by about an order of magnitude. The analysis framework developed here provides a statistically consistent approach for future ALP searches with multimessenger gamma-ray data.

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