Axion-like particles, cosmic magnetic fields and gamma-ray astrophysics

Axion-like particles (ALPs) are predicted by many extensions of the Standard Model and give rise to characteristic dimming and polarization effects in a light beam travelling in a magnetic field. In this Letter, we demonstrate that photon-ALP mixing in cosmic magnetic fields produces an observable distortion in the energy spectra of distant gamma-ray sources (like AGN) for ranges of the ALP parameters allowed by all available constraints. The resulting effect is expected to show up in the energy band 100 MeV–100 GeV, and so it can be searched with the upcoming GLAST mission.