Sensitivity of the CUORE detector to 14.4 keV solar axions emitted by the M1 nuclear transition of 57Fe

Abstract

In this paper we present a calculation of the sensitivity of the CUORE detector to the monoenergetic 14.4 keV solar axions emitted by the M1 nuclear transition of 57Fe in the Sun and detected by inverse coherent Bragg-Primakoff conversion in single-crystal TeO2 bolometers. The expected counting rate is calculated using density functional theory for the electron charge density of TeO2 and realistic background and energy resolution of CUORE. Monte Carlo simulations for 5y × 741 kg=3705 kg y of exposure are analyzed using time correlation of individual events with the theoretical time-dependent counting rate. We find an expected model-independent limit on the product of the axion-photon coupling and the axion-nucleon coupling gaγγgaNeff < 1.105 × 10−16 /GeV for axion masses less than 500 eV with 95% confidence level.