Probing a diffuse flux of axion-like particles from galactic supernovae with neutrino water Cherenkov detectors

Abstract: In this article, we claim that axion-like particles (ALPs) with MeV masses can be produced with semi-relativistic velocities in core-collapse supernovae (SNe), generating a diffuse galactic flux. We show that these ALPs can be detected in neutrino water Cherenkov detectors via $a \, p \rightarrow p \, \gamma$ interactions. Using Super-Kamiokande data, we derive new constraints on the ALP parameter space, excluding a region spanning more than one order of magnitude in the ALP-proton coupling above cooling bounds for ALP masses in the range of $1-80$ MeV and ALP-proton couplings between $8\times10^{-6}-2\times10^{-4}$. We show that the future Hyper-Kamiokande will be able to probe couplings as small as $2.5\times10^{-6}$, fully closing the allowed region above SN 1987A cooling bounds.