Axion detection through resonant photon-photon collisions

Abstract

We investigate the prospect of an alternative laboratory-based search for the coupling of axions and axionlike particles to photons. Here, the collision of two laser beams resonantly produces axions, and a signal photon is detected after magnetic reconversion, as in light-shining-through-walls (LSW) experiments. Conventional searches, such as LSW or anomalous birefringence measurements, are most sensitive to axion masses for which substantial coherence can be achieved; this is usually well below optical energies. We find that using currently available high-power laser facilities, the bounds that can be achieved by our approach outperform traditional LSW at axion masses between 0.5-6 eV, set by the optical laser frequencies and collision angle. These bounds can be further improved through coherent scattering off laser substructures, probing axion-photon couplings down to gaγγ∼10-8 GeV-1, comparable with existing CAST bounds. Assuming a day long measurement per angular step, the QCD axion band can be reached.