Can large scintillators be used for solar-axion searches to test the cosmological axion–photon oscillation proposal?

F.T. Avignone, R.J. Creswick, S. Nussinov
2009 Physics Letters B  
Solar-axion interaction rates in NaI, CsI and Xe scintillators via the axio-electric effect were calculated. A table is presented with photoelectric and axioelectric cross sections, solar-axion fluxes, and the interaction rates from 2.0 to 10.0 keV. The results imply that annual-modulation data of large NaI and CsI arrays, and large Xe scintillation chambers, might be made sensitive enough to probe coupling to photons at levels required to explain axion-photon oscillation phenomena proposed to
more » ... xplain the survival of high-energy photons traveling cosmological distances. The DAMAA/LIBRA data are used to demonstrate the power of the model-independent annual modulation due to the seasonal variation in the earth sun distance.
doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2009.09.011 fatcat:xtk3sbdw6nggvc73nskao4ettm