Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l'Univers

Direction de la recherche fondamentale

Résumé du preprint DAPNIA-04-151

DAPNIA-04-151
First results from the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST)
S. Andriamonje, V. Arsov, S. Aune, D. Autiero, F. Avignone, K. Barth, A. Belov, B. Beltr'an, H. Br"auninger, J. M. Carmona, S. Cebri'an, E. Chesi, J. I. Collar, R. Creswick, T. Dafni, M. Davenport, L. Di Lella, C. Eleftheriadis, J. Englhauser, G. Fanourakis, H. Farach, E. Ferrer, H. Fischer, J. Franz, P. Friedrich, T. Geralis, I. Giomataris, S. Gninenko, N. Goloubev, M. D. Hasinoff, F. H. Heinsius, D.H.H. Hoffmann, I. G. Irastorza, J. Jacoby, D. Kang, K. K"onigsmann, R. Kotthaus, M. Krv{c}mar, K. Kousouris, M. Kuster, B. Laki'{c}, C. Lasseur, A. Liolios, A. Ljubiv{c}i'{c}, G. Lutz, G. Luz'on, D. W. Miller, A. Morales, J. Morales, M. Mutterer, A. Nikolaidis, A. Ortiz, T. Papaevangelou, A. Placci, G. Raffelt, J. Ruz, H. Riege, M. L. Sarsa, I. Savvidis, W. Serber, P. Serpico, Y. Semertzidis, L. Stewart, J. D. Vieira, J. Villar, L. Walckiers, K. Zachariadou, K. Zioutas
Hypothetical axion-like particles with a two-photon interaction would be produced in the Sun by the Primakoff process. In a laboratory magnetic field (``axion helioscope\'\') they would be transformed into X-rays with energies of a few keV. Using a decommissioned LHC test magnet, CAST has been running for about 6 months during 2003. The first results from the analysis of these data are presented here. No signal above background was observed, implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling $g_{a\\gamma} < 1.16 \\times 10^{-10}~{\\rm GeV}^{-1}$ at 95\\% CL for $m_a\\alt 0.02~{\\rm eV}$. This limit is comparable to the limit from stellar energy-loss arguments and considerably more restrictive than any previous experiment in this axion mass range.