TY  - JOUR
AU  - Blas, D.
AU  - Witte, S. J.
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020//
TI  - Imprints of axion superradiance in the CMB
T2  - Phys. Rev. D
JO  - Physical Review D
SP  - 103018
EP  - 10pp
VL  - 102
IS  - 10
PB  - Amer Physical Soc
AB  - 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.
SN  - 2470-0010
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.10074
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.103018
DO  - 10.1103/PhysRevD.102.103018
LA  - English
N1  - WOS:000589606900004
ID  - Blas+Witte2020
ER  -