Editing Axion (section)

== Disputed detections ==
It was reported in 2014 that evidence for axions may have been detected as a seasonal variation in observed X-ray emission that would be expected from conversion in the Earth's magnetic field of axions streaming from the Sun. Studying 15 years of data by the [[European Space Agency]]'s [[XMM-Newton]] observatory, a research group at [[Leicester University]] noticed a seasonal variation for which no conventional explanation could be found. One potential explanation for the variation, described as "plausible" by the senior author of the paper, is the known seasonal variation in visibility to XMM-Newton of the sunward magnetosphere in which X-rays may be produced by axions from the Sun's core.<ref name=guardian>{{cite news |last=Sample |first=Ian |title=Dark matter may have been detected – streaming from sun's core |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |place=London, UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/16/dark-matter-detected-sun-axions |access-date=16 October 2014 |date=2014-10-16 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="FraserRead2014">{{cite journal |last1=Fraser |first1=G. W. |last2=Read |first2=A. M. |last3=Sembay |first3=S. |last4=Carter |first4=J. A. |last5=Schyns |first5=E. |year=2014 |title=Potential solar axion signatures in X-ray observations with the XMM-Newton observatory |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=445 |issue=2 |pages=2146–2168 |arxiv=1403.2436 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stu1865 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2014MNRAS.445.2146F |s2cid=56328280 }}</ref>

This interpretation of the seasonal variation is disputed by two Italian researchers, who identify flaws in the arguments of the Leicester group that are said to rule out an interpretation in terms of axions. Most importantly, the scattering in angle assumed by the Leicester group to be caused by magnetic field gradients during the photon production, necessary to allow the X-rays to enter the detector that cannot point directly at the sun, would dissipate the flux so much that the probability of detection would be negligible.<ref name="RoncadelliTavecchio2015">{{cite journal |last1=Roncadelli |first1=M. |last2=Tavecchio |first2=F. |title=No axions from the Sun |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters |volume=450 |issue=1 |year=2015 |pages=L26–L28 |doi=10.1093/mnrasl/slv040 |doi-access=free |arxiv=1411.3297 |bibcode=2015MNRAS.450L..26R |s2cid=119275136 }}</ref>

In 2013, Christian Beck suggested that axions might be detectable in [[Josephson junctions]]; and in 2014, he argued that a signature, consistent with a mass ≈110&nbsp;μeV, had in fact been observed in several preexisting experiments.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Christian |last=Beck |year=2015 |title=Axion mass estimates from resonant Josephson junctions |journal=Physics of the Dark Universe |volume=7–8 |pages=6–11 |doi=10.1016/j.dark.2015.03.002 |arxiv=1403.5676 |bibcode=2015PDU.....7....6B|s2cid=119239296 }}</ref>

In 2020, the [[XENON#XENON1T|XENON1T]] experiment at the [[Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso|Gran Sasso National Laboratory]] in Italy reported a result suggesting the discovery of solar axions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aprile |first1=E. |last2=Aalbers |first2=J. |display-authors=1 |date=2020-06-17 |title=Observation of excess electronic recoil events in XENON1T |journal=Physical Review D |volume=102 |page=072004 |arxiv=2006.09721 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.102.072004 |s2cid=222338600}}</ref> The results were not significant at the [[Standard deviation#Experiment, industrial and hypothesis testing|5-sigma level]] required for confirmation, and other explanations of the data were possible though less likely.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vagnozzi |first1=Sunny |last2=Visinelli |first2=Luca |last3=Brax |first3=Philippe |last4=Davis |first4=Anne-Christine |last5=Sakstein |first5=Jeremy |title=Direct detection of dark energy: The XENON1T excess and future prospects |journal=Physical Review D |date=15 September 2021 |volume=104 |issue=6 |page=063023 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.104.063023 |arxiv=2103.15834 |bibcode=2021PhRvD.104f3023V |s2cid=232417159 }}</ref> New observations made in July 2022 after the observatory upgrade to [[XENON#XENONnT|XENONnT]] discarded the excess, thus ending the possibility of new particle discovery.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Conover |first1=Emily |title=A new dark matter experiment quashed earlier hints of new particles |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/xenonnt-axions-dark-matter-experiment |work=Science News |date=22 July 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aprile |first1=E. |last2=Abe |first2=K. |last3=Agostini |first3=F. |last4=Maouloud |first4=S. Ahmed |last5=Althueser |first5=L. |last6=Andrieu |first6=B. |last7=Angelino |first7=E. |last8=Angevaare |first8=J. R. |last9=Antochi |first9=V. C. |last10=Martin |first10=D. Antón |last11=Arneodo |first11=F. |date=2022-07-22 |title=Search for New Physics in Electronic Recoil Data from XENONnT |journal=Physical Review Letters |volume=129 |issue=16 |page=161805 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.161805 |pmid=36306777 |arxiv=2207.11330 |bibcode=2022PhRvL.129p1805A |s2cid=251040527 }}</ref>