Axion-Photon Conversion and Effects on 21cm Observation

Abstract

Recently the EDGES experiment reported an enhanced 21cm absorption signal in the radio wave observation, which may be interpreted as either anomalous cooling of baryons or heating of cosmic microwave background photons. In this paper, we pursue the latter possibility. We point out that dark radiation consisting of axion-like particles can resonantly convert into photons under the intergalactic magnetic field, which can effectively heat up the radiation in the frequency range relevant for the EDGES experiment. This may explain the EDGES anomaly.