RESUMO
The QCD axion is expected to form dense structures known as axion miniclusters if the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is broken after inflation. Miniclusters that have survived until today will interact with neutron stars (NSs) in the Milky Way to produce transient radio signals from axion-photon conversion in the NS magnetosphere. We quantify the properties of these encounters and find that they occur frequently [O(1-100)day^{-1}], last between a day and a few months, are spatially clustered toward the Galactic Center, and can reach observable fluxes. These radio transients are within reach of current generation telescopes and therefore offer a promising pathway to discovering QCD axion dark matter.
RESUMO
The properties of axions that constitute 100% of cold dark matter (CDM) depend on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r at the end of inflation. If r=0.20(-0.05)(+0.07) as reported by the BICEP2 Collaboration, then "half" of the CDM axion parameter space is ruled out. Namely, in the context of single-field slow-roll inflation, for axions to be 100% of the CDM, the Peccei-Quinn symmetry must be broken after the end of inflation, so that axion nonadiabatic primordial fluctuations are compatible with observational constraints. The cosmic axion density is then independent of the tensor-to-scalar ratio r, and the axion mass is expected to be in a narrow range that, however, depends on the cosmological model before primordial nucleosynthesis. In the standard Lambda CDM cosmology, the CDM axion mass range is ma=(71±2 µeV)(αdec+1)6/7, where αdec is the fractional contribution to the cosmic axion density from decays of axionic strings and walls.