Towards string theory expectations for photon couplings to axionlike particles

Abstract

Axionlike particle (ALP)--photon couplings are modeled in large ensembles of string vacua and random matrix theories. In all cases, the effective coupling increases polynomially in the number of ALPs, of which hundreds or thousands are expected in the string ensembles, many of which are ultralight. The expected value of the couplings ${g}_{a\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}}\ensuremath{\simeq}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}12}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\ensuremath{-}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{GeV}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ provide viable targets for future x-ray telescopes and axion helioscopes, and in some cases are already in tension with existing data.