%0 Journal Article
%T Imprints of axion superradiance in the CMB
%A Blas, D.
%A Witte, S. J.
%J Physical Review D
%D 2020
%V 102
%N 10
%I Amer Physical Soc
%@ 2470-0010
%G English
%F Blas+Witte2020
%O WOS:000589606900004
%O exported from refbase (https://references.ific.uv.es/refbase/show.php?record=4609), last updated on Sat, 28 Nov 2020 14:13:35 +0000
%X Light axions (m(a) less than or similar to 10(-10) eV) can form dense clouds around rapidly rotating astrophysical black holes via a mechanism known as rotational superradiance. The coupling between axions and photons induces a parametric resonance, arising from the stimulated decay of the axion cloud, which can rapidly convert regions of large axion number densities into an enormous flux of low-energy photons. In this work we consider the phenomenological implications of a superradiant axion cloud undergoing resonant decay. We show that the low-energy photons produced from such events will be absorbed over cosmologically short distances, potentially inducing massive shockwaves that heat and ionize the intergalactic medium over Mpc scales. These shockwaves may leave observable imprints in the form of anisotropic spectral distortions or inhomogeneous features in the optical depth.
%R 10.1103/PhysRevD.102.103018
%U https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.10074
%U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.103018
%P 103018-10pp