Dynamic solar Primakoff process

Abstract

The Primakoff mechanism is one of the primary channels for the production of solar axion. In canonical estimation of the Primakoff photon-axion conversion rate, the recoil effect is neglected and a static structure factor is adopted. By use of the linear response theory, we provide a dynamic description of the solar Primakoff process. It is found that the collective electrons overtake ions as the dominant factor, in contrast to the static screening picture where ions contribute more to the photon-axion conversion. Nonetheless, the resulting axion flux is only 1-2% lower than the standard estimate based on the static structure factor.