Abstract
Recently it has been pointed out that a cosmic background of relativistic axion-like particles (ALPs) would be produced by the primordial decays of heavy fields in the post-inflation epoch, contributing to the extra-radiation content in the Universe today. Primordial magnetic fields would trigger conversions of these ALPs into sub-MeV photons during the dark ages. This photon flux would produce an early reionization of the Universe, leaving a significant imprint on the total optical depth to recombination τ. Using the current measurement of τ and the limit on the extra-radiation content Δ Neff by the Planck experiment we put a strong bound on the ALP-photon conversions. Namely we obtain upper limits on the product of the photon-ALP coupling constant gaγ times the magnetic field strength B down to gaγ B ≳ 6 × 10−18 GeV−1 nG for ultralight ALPs.
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