Study on axion dark matter search through radio telescope spectroscopy of neutron stars

Abstract

We study the use of radio spectroscopy of neutron stars in the search for axion dark matter. We improve on previous literature by considering the frequency dependent sensitivity of radio telescopes, and calculating for all known pulsars listed on the ATNF Pulsar catalogue. We found that are able to scan for $f_a$ from ~ 10 MHz to 38 GHz. With the Green Bank Telescope, we may even probe for QCD axions with deep observations (~ 100 hrs). Next generation telescopes may allow a search for DFSZ axions as well. We also provide the outline for a pilot observation with the GBT at 13.7 GHz. Finally, we study the effectiveness of using the Stokes $Q_k$, $U_k$, and $L_k$ spectrum for as an alternative to the Stokes $I_k$ spectrum.