Search for solar axions in XMASS, a large liquid-xenon detector

XMASS, a low-background, large liquid-xenon detector, was used to search for solar axions that would be produced by bremsstrahlung and Compton effects in the Sun. With an exposure of 5.6 ton days of liquid xenon, the model-independent limit on the coupling for mass ≪1 keV is |gaee|<5.4×10−11 (90% C.L.), which is a factor of two stronger than the existing experimental limit. The bounds on the axion masses for the DFSZ and KSVZ axion models are 1.9 and 250 eV, respectively. In the mass range of 10–40 keV, this study produced the most stringent limit, which is better than that previously derived from astrophysical arguments regarding the Sun to date.