Related papers: Gauged Axions and their QCD Interactions
We consider QCD axion models where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is badly broken by a larger amount in the past than in the present, in order to avoid the axion isocurvature problem. Specifically we study supersymmetric axion models where the…
We explore a dynamical mechanism to realize the emergence of a global $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ symmetry and its spontaneous breaking at an intermediate scale for an axion solution to the strong CP problem. Such a dynamics is provided by a new…
We investigate the axion quality problem in warped extra-dimensional models in which the QCD axion arises as the Wilson-line mode of a five-dimensional $U(1)$ gauge field compactified on an $S^1/\mathbb{Z}_2$ orbifold. Higher-dimensional…
In this report, I discuss the current state of the problem of the axial anomaly in quantum electrodynamics (QED) and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and how the axial anomaly is related to the structure of the vacuum in QCD. In QCD, the vacuum…
We demonstrate that dark matter axion production is enhanced through a natural and unavoidable mechanism: primordial temperature fluctuations periodically modulate the axion mass during the QCD phase transition, thereby triggering…
In this note, we give a definitive basis for the dimension-eight operators leading to quartic -- but no cubic -- interactions among electroweak gauge bosons. These are often called anomalous quartic gauge couplings, or aQGCs. We distinguish…
The complex field $\Phi$ containing the QCD axion has a natural portal coupling to the Higgs doublet of the form $\lambda_{h \phi}|\Phi|^2 |H|^2$. Here we consider the possibility that $\lambda_{h \phi}$ has a natural magnitude for a…
Several theoretical motivations point to ultralight QCD axions with large decay constants $f_a \simeq \mathcal{O}(10^{16}-10^{17})$ GeV, to which experimental proposals are dedicated. This regime is known to face the problem of…
We investigate the level-crossing phenomenon in two-axion systems, where the mass eigenvalues intersect as the mass of one axion increases with the cooling of the universe. This phenomenon can significantly alter the abundance of axions in…
We show that the required high quality of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry can be naturally explained in the aligned QCD axion models where the QCD axion arises from multiple axions with decay constants much smaller than the axion window, e.g.,…
The physical origin of the strong CP problem in QCD, rooted in the structures of the vacuum of the standard model, is reviewed. The chiral solution to this problem, with its accompanying axion, is explained and various characteristics of…
We extend the duality symmetry between the electric and the magnetic fields to the case in which an additional axion-like term is present, and we derive the set of Maxwell's equations that preserves this symmetry. This new set of equations…
The QCD axion is one of the best motivated dark matter candidates. The misalignment mechanism is well known to produce an abundance of the QCD axion consistent with dark matter for an axion decay constant of order $10^{12}$ GeV. For a…
We discuss for some particular non supersymmetric theories a generalized symmetry that includes both the scale and axial transformations and leads to a single current that may contain also a pseudoscalar term. The method, inspired by the…
We propose a novel paradigm for the QCD axion with high-quality Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry on the basis of electric-magnetic duality in the conformal window of a supersymmetric gauge theory. PQ breaking fields, that contain the QCD axion,…
At low energies, the strong interaction is governed by the Goldstone bosons associated with the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, which can be systematically described by chiral perturbation theory. In this paper, we apply this theory…
We review issues involved in understanding the vacuum, long-distance and low-energy structure of non-Abelian gauge theories and QCD. The emphasis will be on the role played by instantons.
Axion-like fields are naturally generated by a mechanism of anomaly cancellation of one or more anomalous gauge abelian symmetries at the Planck scale, emerging as duals of a two-form from the massless bosonic sector of string theory. This…
We show that the couplings of axions to gauge bosons are highly restricted in Grand Unified Theories where the standard model is embedded in a simple 4D gauge group. The topological nature of these couplings allows them to be matched from…
In supersymmetric theories, the presence of axions usually implies the existence of a non-compact, (pseudo)moduli space. In gauge mediated models, the axion would seem a particularly promising dark matter candidate. The cosmology of the…