$B-L$ as a Gauged Peccei-Quinn Symmetry

The gauged Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism provides a simple prescription to embed the global PQ symmetry into a gauged $U(1)$ symmetry. As it originates from the gauged PQ symmetry, the global PQ symmetry can be protected from explicit breaking by quantum gravitational effects once appropriate charge assignment is given. In this paper, we identify the gauged PQ symmetry with the ${B-L}$ symmetry, which is obviously attractive as the ${B-L}$ gauge symmetry is the most authentic extension of the Standard Model. As we will show, a natural $B-L$ charge assignment can be found in a model motivated by the seesaw mechanism in the $SU(5)$ Grand Unified Theory. As a notable feature of this model, it does not require extra $SU(5)$ singlet matter fields other than the right-handed neutrinos to cancel the self and the gravitational anomalies.