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Interstellar-Medium Heating Constraints on the Axion-Photon Coupling

A forecast method to bound the axion-photon coupling g: in a magnetized nonrelativistic interstellar plasma, oscillating axion dark matter drives a forced resonance that transfers energy to the electric field and heats the medium, peaking when the axion mass equals the plasma frequency. Demanding that this heating not exceed observed astrophysical cooling rates yields an analytic upper limit on g that can surpass existing bounds for typical galactic magnetic-field strengths.