Testing selectively enhanced QCD axions couplings as an explanation of the RX J1856.5-3754 hard X-ray excess

Abstract

We explore the possibility of explaining hard X-ray data obtained from one of the Magnificent Seven (M7) neutron-stars (NSs) employing QCD axion-converted photons. The emission of thermal axions along with neutrinos from the core has been considered. We adopt the nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung process as the baseline axion production mechanism and Cooper-pair breaking and formation (PBF) as an additional process. We investigate here whether the selectively enhanced QCD axion coupling model can better explain the hard X-ray excess than the commonly used KSVZ axion model. Our results suggest that meV-mass QCD axions cannot explain the hard X-ray observation within the adopted framework. The enhanced selective model in the micro-eV scale provides closer agreement with the hard X-ray data. We thus conclude that the emission of hard X-rays in the $2-8$ keV range from isolated M7 stars could be explained by QCD axions under an enhanced coupling scenario.