- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review D

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Constraints on axionlike particles from 16.5 years of Fermi-LAT data and prospects for VLAST

Zhi-Qi Guo1,2,*, Yue-Lin Sming Tsai2,3,†, Lei Wu1,4,‡, and Zi-Qing Xia2,§

  • *Contact author: zhiqiguo@njnu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: smingtsai@pmo.ac.cn
  • ‡Contact author: leiwu@njnu.edu.cn
  • §Contact author: xiazq@pmo.ac.cn
PDF

Phys. Rev. D 112, 075008 – Published 6 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/r7vp-3gv2

Abstract

Axionlike particles (ALPs), hypothetical particles beyond the Standard Model (SM), are considered as promising dark matter candidates. ALPs can convert into photons and vice versa in a magnetic field via the Primakoff effect, potentially generating detectable oscillation in γ-ray spectra. This study analyzes 16.5 years of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) on NGC 1275, the brightest galaxy in the Perseus cluster, to constrain the ALP parameter space. Our results improve the previous 95% exclusion limits of the photon-ALP coupling gaγ by a factor of 2 in the ALP mass range of 4×10−10  eV≲ma≲5×10−9  eV. Moreover, we investigate the projected sensitivity of the future Very Large Area γ-ray Space Telescope (VLAST) on searching for ALPs. We find that (i) the expected sensitivity on the photon-ALP coupling gaγ can be stronger than that from the upcoming International Axion Observatory in the ALP mass range of 2×10−11  eV≲ma≲1×10−7  eV, with the best sensitivity of gaγ∼7×10−13  GeV−1 at ma∼2×10−10  eV; (ii) VLAST can extend the sensitivity of the ALP masses below 5×10−12  eV, where the photon-ALP coupling gaγ≳1.5×10−11  GeV−1 will be excluded; (iii) the entire parameter space of ALP accounting for TeV transparency can be fully tested. These results demonstrate that VLAST will offer an excellent opportunity for ALPs searches.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (101)

  1. R. D. Peccei and H. R. Quinn, CP conservation in the presence of instantons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 38, 1440 (1977).
  2. S. Weinberg, A new light boson?, Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 223 (1978).
  3. F. Wilczek, Problem of strong P and T invariance in the presence of instantons, Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 279 (1978).
  4. R. D. Peccei, The strong CP problem and axions, Lect. Notes Phys. 741, 3 (2008).
  5. P. Svrcek and E. Witten, Axions in string theory, J. High Energy Phys. 06 (2006) 051.
  6. A. Arvanitaki, S. Dimopoulos, S. Dubovsky, N. Kaloper, and J. March-Russell, String axiverse, Phys. Rev. D 81, 123530 (2010).
  7. M. Cicoli, M. Goodsell, and A. Ringwald, The type IIB string axiverse and its low-energy phenomenology, J. High Energy Phys. 10 (2012) 146.
  8. J. Preskill, M. B. Wise, and F. Wilczek, Cosmology of the invisible axion, Phys. Lett. 120B, 127 (1983).
  9. L. F. Abbott and P. Sikivie, A cosmological bound on the invisible axion, Phys. Lett. 120B, 133 (1983).
  10. M. Dine and W. Fischler, The not so harmless axion, Phys. Lett. 120B, 137 (1983).
  11. J.-c. Hwang and H. Noh, Axion as a cold dark matter candidate, Phys. Lett. B 680, 1 (2009).
  12. L. D. Duffy and K. van Bibber, Axions as dark matter particles, New J. Phys. 11, 105008 (2009).
  13. P. Arias, D. Cadamuro, M. Goodsell, J. Jaeckel, J. Redondo, and A. Ringwald, WISPy cold dark matter, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 06 (2012) 013.
  14. F. Chadha-Day, J. Ellis, and D. J. E. Marsh, Axion dark matter: What is it and why now?, Sci. Adv. 8, abj3618 (2022).
  15. A. De Angelis, M. Roncadelli, and O. Mansutti, Evidence for a new light spin-zero boson from cosmological gamma-ray propagation?, Phys. Rev. D 76, 121301 (2007).
  16. M. Simet, D. Hooper, and P. D. Serpico, The Milky Way as a kiloparsec-scale axionscope, Phys. Rev. D 77, 063001 (2008).
  17. D. Horns and M. Meyer, Indications for a pair-production anomaly from the propagation of VHE gamma-rays, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2012) 033.
  18. M. Meyer, D. Horns, and M. Raue, First lower limits on the photon-axion-like particle coupling from very high energy gamma-ray observations, Phys. Rev. D 87, 035027 (2013).
  19. G. Carosi, A. Friedland, M. Giannotti, M. J. Pivovaroff, J. Ruz, and J. K. Vogel, Probing the axion-photon coupling: Phenomenological and experimental perspectives. A snowmass white paper, in Community Summer Study on the Future of U.S. Particle Physics: Snowmass on the Mississippi (CSS2013), Minneapolis, MN, USA (2013).
  20. P. W. Graham, I. G. Irastorza, S. K. Lamoreaux, A. Lindner, and K. A. van Bibber, Experimental searches for the axion and axion-like particles, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 65, 485 (2015).
  21. B. Berenji, J. Gaskins, and M. Meyer, Constraints on axions and axionlike particles from fermi large area telescope observations of neutron stars, Phys. Rev. D 93, 045019 (2016).
  22. I. G. Irastorza and J. Redondo, New experimental approaches in the search for axion-like particles, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 102, 89 (2018).
  23. J. Majumdar, F. Calore, and D. Horns, Search for gamma-ray spectral modulations in Galactic pulsars, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 04 (2018) 048.
  24. L. Di Luzio, M. Giannotti, E. Nardi, and L. Visinelli, The landscape of QCD axion models, Phys. Rep. 870, 1 (2020).
  25. K. Choi, S. H. Im, and C. Sub Shin, Recent progress in the physics of axions and axion-like particles, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 71, 225 (2021).
  26. Y. Chen, Y. Liu, R.-S. Lu, Y. Mizuno, J. Shu, X. Xue, Q. Yuan, and Y. Zhao, Stringent axion constraints with Event Horizon Telescope polarimetric measurements of M87*, Nat. Astron. 6, 592 (2022).
  27. Y.-F. Zhou, N. Houston, G. I. G. Józsa, H. Chen, Y.-Z. Ma, Q. Yuan, T. An, Y. Chandola, R. Ding, F. Du, S.-G. Guo, X. Huang, M. Li, and C. Sengupta, Searching for axion dark matter with the meerkat radio telescope, Phys. Rev. D 106, 083006 (2022).
  28. P. Agrawal, M. Nee, and M. Reig, Axion couplings in grand unified theories, J. High Energy Phys. 10 (2022) 141.
  29. S.-Y. Guo, M. Khlopov, X. Liu, L. Wu, Y. Wu, and B. Zhu, Footprints of axion-like particle in pulsar timing array data and James Webb Space Telescope observations, Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 67, 111011 (2024).
  30. Y. Gong, X. Liu, L. Wu, Q. Yang, and B. Zhu, Detecting quadratically coupled ultralight dark matter with stimulated annihilation, Phys. Rev. D 109, 055026 (2024).
  31. A. Arza, Q. Guo, L. Wu, Q. Yang, X. Yang, Q. Yuan, and B. Zhu, Listening for echo from the stimulated axion decay with the 21 centimeter array, Sci. Bull. 69, 2971 (2024).
  32. J. Li, X.-J. Bi, L.-Q. Gao, X. Huang, R.-M. Yao, and P.-F. Yin, Constraints on axion-like particles from the observation of Galactic sources by the LHAASO*, Chin. Phys. C 48, 065107 (2024).
  33. N. Song, L. Su, and L. Wu, Polarization signals from axion-photon resonant conversion in a neutron star magnetosphere, Phys. Rev. D 111, 043025 (2025).
  34. A. Lella, E. Ravensburg, P. Carenza, and M. C. D. Marsh, Supernova limits on QCD axionlike particles, Phys. Rev. D 110, 043019 (2024).
  35. M. Yang, Z.-Q. Guo, X.-Y. Luo, Z.-Q. Shen, Z.-Q. Xia, C.-T. Lu, Y.-L. S. Tsai, and Y.-Z. Fan, Searching accretion-enhanced dark matter annihilation signals in the Galactic Centre, J. High Energy Phys. 10 (2024) 094.
  36. B.-Y. Zhu, X. Huang, and P.-F. Yin, Constraints on axion-like particles from the gamma-ray observation of the Galactic Center, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 01 (2025) 030.
  37. R. Mammen Abraham et al. (FASER Collaboration), Shining light on the dark sector: Search for axion-like particles and other new physics in photonic final states with FASER, J. High Energy Phys. 01 (2025) 199.
  38. Y.-X. Chen, L. Lei, Z.-Q. Xia, Z. Wang, Y.-L. S. Tsai, and Y.-Z. Fan, Searching for axionlike particles with X-ray observations of Alpha Centauri, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 241001 (2025).
  39. W.-Q. Guo, Z.-Q. Xia, and X. Huang, Constraining axion-like particles dark matter in Coma Berenices with FAST, Phys. Lett. B 852, 138631 (2024).
  40. D. Malyshev, L. Zadorozhna, Y. Bidasyuk, A. Santangelo, and O. Ruchayskiy, Active galactic nuclei through the prism of galaxy clusters: Bounds on axion-like particles, Nat. Astron. 9, 1387 (2025).
  41. A. L. Pankratov et al., Search for dark-matter axions beyond the quantum limit: The Cosmological Axion Sarov Haloscope (CASH) proposal, Phys. Rev. D 112, 035003 (2025).
  42. K. Ehret et al., New ALPS results on hidden-sector lightweights, Phys. Lett. B 689, 149 (2010).
  43. M. D. Ortiz et al., Design of the ALPS II optical system, Phys. Dark Universe 35, 100968 (2022).
  44. S. J. Asztalos et al. (ADMX Collaboration), A SQUID-based microwave cavity search for dark-matter axions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 041301 (2010).
  45. N. Du et al. (ADMX Collaboration), A search for invisible axion dark matter with the axion dark matter experiment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 151301 (2018).
  46. C. Boutan et al. (ADMX Collaboration), Piezoelectrically tuned multimode cavity search for axion dark matter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 261302 (2018).
  47. T. Braine et al. (ADMX Collaboration), Extended search for the invisible axion with the axion dark matter experiment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 101303 (2020).
  48. N. Crisosto, P. Sikivie, N. S. Sullivan, D. B. Tanner, J. Yang, and G. Rybka, ADMX SLIC: Results from a superconducting LC circuit investigating cold axions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 241101 (2020).
  49. C. Bartram et al. (ADMX Collaboration), Dark matter axion search using a Josephson Traveling wave parametric amplifier, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 94, 044703 (2023).
  50. C. Bartram et al. (ADMX Collaboration), Search for invisible axion dark matter in the 3.3–4.2 μeV mass range, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 261803 (2021).
  51. C. Goodman et al. (ADMX Collaboration), ADMX axion dark matter bounds around 3.3  μeV with Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky discovery ability, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 111002 (2025).
  52. CAST Collaboration, New CAST limit on the axion-photon interaction, Nat. Phys. 13, 584 (2017).
  53. E. Armengaud et al. (IAXO Collaboration), Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO), J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 06 (2019) 047.
  54. D. Hooper and P. D. Serpico, Detecting axion-like particles with gamma ray telescopes, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 231102 (2007).
  55. A. De Angelis, O. Mansutti, and M. Roncadelli, Axion-like particles, cosmic magnetic fields and gamma-ray astrophysics, Phys. Lett. B 659, 847 (2008).
  56. M. Meyer, M. Giannotti, A. Mirizzi, J. Conrad, and M. A. Sánchez-Conde, Fermi Large Area Telescope as a Galactic supernovae axionscope, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 011103 (2017).
  57. J. N. Benabou, C. Dessert, K. C. Patra, T. G. Brink, W. Zheng, A. V. Filippenko, and B. R. Safdi, Search for axions in magnetic white dwarf polarization at lick and keck observatories, arXiv:2504.12377.
  58. M. Ajello et al. (Fermi-LAT Collaboration), Search for spectral irregularities due to photon–axionlike-particle oscillations with the Fermi Large Area Telescope, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 161101 (2016).
  59. A. Payez, C. Evoli, T. Fischer, M. Giannotti, A. Mirizzi, and A. Ringwald, Revisiting the SN1987A gamma-ray limit on ultralight axion-like particles, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 02 (2015) 006.
  60. M. Meyer and T. Petrushevska, Search for axionlike-particle-induced prompt γ-ray emission from extragalactic core-collapse supernovae with the Fermi Large Area Telescope, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 231101 (2020); 125, 119901(E) (2020).
  61. J. Davies, M. Meyer, and G. Cotter, Constraints on axionlike particles from a combined analysis of three flaring Fermi flat-spectrum radio quasars, Phys. Rev. D 107, 083027 (2023).
  62. A. Abramowski et al. (H.E.S.S. Collaboration), Constraints on axionlike particles with H.E.S.S. from the irregularity of the PKS 2155-304 energy spectrum, Phys. Rev. D 88, 102003 (2013).
  63. C. Zhang, Y.-F. Liang, S. Li, N.-H. Liao, L. Feng, Q. Yuan, Y.-Z. Fan, and Z.-Z. Ren, New bounds on axionlike particles from the Fermi Large Area Telescope observation of PKS 2155-304, Phys. Rev. D 97, 063009 (2018).
  64. Y.-F. Liang, C. Zhang, Z.-Q. Xia, L. Feng, Q. Yuan, and Y.-Z. Fan, Constraints on axion-like particle properties with TeV gamma-ray observations of Galactic sources, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 06 (2019) 042.
  65. Z.-Q. Xia, Y.-F. Liang, L. Feng, Q. Yuan, Y.-Z. Fan, and J. Wu, Searching for the possible signal of the photon-axionlike particle oscillation in the combined GeV and TeV spectra of supernova remnants, Phys. Rev. D 100, 123004 (2019).
  66. G.-W. Yuan, Z.-Q. Xia, C. Tang, Y. Zhao, Y.-F. Cai, Y. Chen, J. Shu, and Q. Yuan, Testing the ALP-photon coupling with polarization measurements of Sagittarius A*, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 03 (2021) 018.
  67. M. Ackermann et al. (Fermi-LAT Collaboration), The third catalog of active Galactic nuclei detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, Astrophys. J. 810, 14 (2015).
  68. J. Aleksić et al. (MAGIC Collaboration), Contemporaneous observations of the radio galaxy NGC 1275 from radio to very high energy γ-rays, Astron. Astrophys. 564, A5 (2014).
  69. F. Tavecchio and G. Ghisellini, On the spine-layer scenario for the very high-energy emission of NGC 1275, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 443, 1224 (2014).
  70. G. B. Taylor, N. E. Gugliucci, A. C. Fabian, J. S. Sanders, G. Gentile, and S. W. Allen, Magnetic fields in the center of the perseus cluster, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 368, 1500 (2006).
  71. Y. Z. Fan et al., Very Large Area Gamma-ray Space Telescope (VLAST), Acta Astronomica Sinica 63, 27 (2022).
  72. S. Agostinelli et al. (GEANT4 Collaboration), GEANT4—A simulation toolkit, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res., Sect. A 506, 250 (2003).
  73. G. Raffelt and L. Stodolsky, Mixing of the photon with low mass particles, Phys. Rev. D 37, 1237 (1988).
  74. Y. Grossman, S. Roy, and J. Zupan, Effects of initial axion production and photon axion oscillation on type Ia supernova dimming, Phys. Lett. B 543, 23 (2002).
  75. C. Csaki, N. Kaloper, M. Peloso, and J. Terning, Super GZK photons from photon axion mixing, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 05 (2003) 005.
  76. A. Mirizzi, G. G. Raffelt, and P. D. Serpico, Photon-axion conversion in intergalactic magnetic fields and cosmological consequences, Lect. Notes Phys. 741, 115 (2008).
  77. A. Mirizzi and D. Montanino, Stochastic conversions of TeV photons into axion-like particles in extragalactic magnetic fields, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 12 (2009) 004.
  78. A. De Angelis, G. Galanti, and M. Roncadelli, Relevance of axion-like particles for very-high-energy astrophysics, Phys. Rev. D 84, 105030 (2011); 87, 109903(E) (2013).
  79. M. Meyer, D. Montanino, and J. Conrad, On detecting oscillations of gamma rays into axion-like particles in turbulent and coherent magnetic fields, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 09 (2014) 003.
  80. K. Choi, S. Lee, H. Seong, and S. Yun, Gamma-ray spectral modulations induced by photon-ALP-dark photon oscillations, Phys. Rev. D 101, 043007 (2020).
  81. K. Dolag, A. M. Bykov, and A. Diaferio, Non-thermal processes in cosmological simulations, Space Sci. Rev. 134, 311 (2008).
  82. Y. Dubois and R. Teyssier, Cosmological MHD simulation of a cooling flow cluster, Astron. Astrophys. 482, L13 (2008).
  83. L. Feretti, G. Giovannini, F. Govoni, and M. Murgia, Clusters of galaxies: Observational properties of the diffuse radio emission, Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 20, 54 (2012).
  84. E. Churazov, W. Forman, C. Jones, and H. Bohringer, Xmm-newton observations of the perseus cluster I: The temperature and surface brightness structure, Astrophys. J. 590, 225 (2003).
  85. J. Aleksic et al. (MAGIC Collaboration), Constraining cosmic rays and magnetic fields in the Perseus galaxy cluster with TeV observations by the MAGIC telescopes, Astron. Astrophys. 541, A99 (2012).
  86. P. Kuchar and T. A. Ensslin, Magnetic power spectra from Faraday rotation maps—REALMAF and its use on Hydra A, Astron. Astrophys. 529, A13 (2011).
  87. V. Vacca, M. Murgia, F. Govoni, L. Feretti, G. Giovannini, R. A. Perley, and G. B. Taylor, The intracluster magnetic field power spectrum in A2199, Astron. Astrophys. 540, A38 (2012).
  88. A. Dominguez et al., Extragalactic Background Light Inferred from AEGIS Galaxy SED-type Fractions, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 410, 2556 (2011).
  89. R. Jansson and G. R. Farrar, A new model of the Galactic magnetic field, Astrophys. J. 757, 14 (2012).
  90. W. Atwood et al. (Fermi-LAT Collaboration), Pass 8: Toward the full realization of the Fermi-LAT scientific potential, arXiv:1303.3514.
  91. https://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/access/
  92. J. Ballet, P. Bruel, T. H. Burnett, B. Lott (The Fermi-LAT Collaboration), Fermi Large Area Telescope fourth source catalog data release 4 (4FGL-DR4), arXiv:2307.12546.
  93. T. M. Kneiske and H. Dole, A lower-limit flux for the extragalactic background light, Astron. Astrophys. 515, A19 (2010).
  94. R. C. Gilmore, R. S. Somerville, J. R. Primack, and A. Dominguez, Semi-analytic modeling of the EBL and consequences for extragalactic gamma-ray spectra, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 422, 3189 (2012).
  95. Y. Inoue, S. Inoue, M. A. R. Kobayashi, R. Makiya, Y. Niino, and T. Totani, Extragalactic background light from hierarchical galaxy formation: Gamma-ray attenuation up to the epoch of cosmic reionization and the first stars, Astrophys. J. 768, 197 (2013).
  96. A. Franceschini and G. Rodighiero, The extragalactic background light revisited and the cosmic photon-photon opacity, Astron. Astrophys. 603, A34 (2017).
  97. A. Saldana-Lopez, A. Domínguez, P. G. Pérez-González, J. Finke, M. Ajello, J. R. Primack, V. S. Paliya, and A. Desai, An observational determination of the evolving extragalactic background light from the multiwavelength HST/CANDELS survey in the Fermi and CTA era, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 507, 5144 (2021).
  98. J. D. Finke, M. Ajello, A. Dominguez, A. Desai, D. H. Hartmann, V. S. Paliya, and A. Saldana-Lopez, Modeling the extragalactic background light and the cosmic star formation history, Astrophys. J. 941, 33 (2022).
  99. R. Adam et al. (Planck Collaboration), Planck intermediate results.: XLII. Large-scale Galactic magnetic fields, Astron. Astrophys. 596, A103 (2016).
  100. M. S. Pshirkov, P. G. Tinyakov, P. P. Kronberg, and K. J. Newton-McGee, Deriving global structure of the Galactic magnetic field from Faraday rotation measures of extragalactic sources, Astrophys. J. 738, 192 (2011).
  101. M. Unger and G. R. Farrar, The coherent magnetic field of the Milky Way, Astrophys. J. 970, 95 (2024).

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. D 112, 075008– Published 6 October, 2025
  • Received 21 July 2025
  • Accepted 12 September 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation