Axionlike particles (ALPs) can induce a rotation of polarization plane effect that rotates the polarization angle of light, offering a probe of ultralight dark matter. We analyze archival near-infrared polarimetric data of the protoplanetary disk (PPD) around HD 163296. Building on previous snapshot and multiepoch studies of protoplanetary-disk polarization, we perform a dedicated time-series analysis of archival near-infrared polarimetric data of HD 163296. The resulting six-epoch time series is consistent with a constant polarization angle within the measurement uncertainties, while being sensitive to timescales of $\sim 170–400\mathrm{days}$. The typical polarization angle uncertainties are 1.6°–6.4°, and are partly driven by multiple scattering in the optically thick disk, which broadens the intrinsic polarization angle distribution and introduces additional dispersion in the representative polarization angle. Based on these data, we derive the first upper limits on the ALP-photon coupling from PPD polarization variability, $g_{a\gamma }\lesssim 7.5\times {10}^{-12}(m_a/{10}^{-22}\mathrm{eV}){\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$. Finally, we show that, if future observations can achieve a total polarization-angle uncertainty of ${\sigma }_{\chi }\sim 0.1°$, including systematic effects, time-domain polarimetry of protoplanetary disks could rival or surpass existing astrophysical constraints on the ALP-photon coupling in the relevant mass range.

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• Cosmology
• Axions