Supernova Muons: New Constraints on Z′ Bosons, Axions and ALPs

New light particles produced in supernovae can lead to additional energy loss and a consequent deficit in neutrino production in conflict with the neutrinos observed from Supernova 1987A (SN1987A). Contrary to the majority of previous SN1987A studies, we examine the impact of Z′ bosons, axions, and axion-like particles (ALPs) interacting with the muons produced in SN1987A. For the first time, we find constraints on generic Z′ bosons coupled to muons, and apply our results to particle models including gauged Lμ −Lτ number, $$ \mathrm{U}{(1)}_{L_{\mu }-{L}_{\tau }} $$ , and gauged B − L number, U(1)B−L. We constrain Z′ bosons with masses up to about 250 − 500 MeV, and down to about 10−9 in Z′-muon coupling. We also extend previous work on axion-muon couplings by examining the importance of loop-level interactions, as well as performing calculations over a wider range of axion masses. We constrain muon-coupled axions from arbitrarily low masses up to about 200 − 500 MeV, with bounds extending down to axion-muon couplings of approximately 10−8 GeV−1. We conclude that supernovae broadly provide a sensitive probe of new lightly-coupled particles interacting with muons.