Laser-induced axion photoproduction

Abstract

Axion photoproduction is suggested as a systematic technique for investigating the coupling of new elementary pseudoscalar or scalar particles in the megaelectronvolt mass range to leptons, photons, and hadronic matter. The experiments involve a configuration where a low-energy photon collides with a relativistic electron beam. Threshold production energies of 300 GeV can be accomplished with an optical laser, and those of 14.5-50 GeV can be achieved with wigglers directed onto an electron beam. With this scheme, at least 10 to the -7th of the electrons can be converted to axions, providing a 1-100 thousand/s relativistic beam of axions.