Related papers: Axion cosmology with long-lived domain walls
We investigate two cosmological axion problems (isocurvature fluctuations and domain-wall formation) in chaotic inflationary universe. It is believed that these problems are solved if potential for the Peccei-Quinn scalar field is very…
We study the evolution of domain wall networks appearing after phase transitions in the early Universe. They exhibit interesting dynamical scaling behaviour which is not yet well understood, and are also simple models for the more…
Employing the publicly available CosmoLattice code, we conduct numerical simulations of a domain wall network and the resulting gravitational waves (GWs) in a radiation-dominated Universe in the $Z_2$-symmetric scalar field model. In…
We consider a simple extension of Standard Model by adding two complex singlet scalars with a $\rm{U}\left(1\right)$ symmetry. A discrete $\mathcal{Z}_2 \times \mathcal{Z}^{\prime}_2$ symmetry is imposed in the model and the added scalars…
The QCD axion can successfully solve the strong CP problem under the condition that the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is respected to extremely high standard. We explore a class of gauge theories that accommodate a high-quality axion, known as the…
We examine the cosmological consequences of the heavy quarks in KSVZ-type axion models. We find that their presence often causes an early matter domination phase, altering the evolution of the Universe. This extends the axion mass into the…
If axions exist they are efficiently produced in the hot and dense interior of stars, providing a novel energy-loss mechanism. In order to avoid a conflict with the observed properties of stars, one can derive a lower limit on the…
We point out that domain wall formation is a more common phenomenon in the Axiverse than previously thought. Level crossing could take place if there is a mixing between axions, and if some of the axions acquire a non-zero mass through…
The clockwork axion refers to a family of aligned multi-axion models that lead to an exponential hierarchy between the scale of Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking and the scale of the axion decay constant. The clockworking can bring the…
The effective potential for the Standard Model Higgs field allows two quasi-degenerate vacua; one is our vacuum at the electroweak scale, while the other is at a much higher scale. The latter minimum may be at a scale much smaller than the…
We investigate the breaking of dark $SU(2)_d$ symmetry at different temperature scales, occurring after Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking or following QCD symmetry breaking. We focus on assessing the potential of the hidden monopoles generated…
Stable domain wall (DW) must decay to avoid overclose the Universe. A commonly used solution is to slightly break the PQ symmetry by introducing a bias term in the potential. In this work, we propose an alternative, symmetry-preserving…
We have studied the cosmological evolution of domain wall networks in two, three and four spatial dimensions using high-resolution field theory simulations. The dynamical range and number of our simulations is larger than in previous works,…
We review current cosmological constraints on the axion. We describe the basic mechanisms by which axions are created in the early universe, focussing on the standard thermal scenario where the dominant process is through axion radiation by…
Stable topological defects of light (pseudo)scalar fields can contribute to the Universe's dark energy and dark matter. Currently the combination of gravitational and cosmological constraints provides the best limits on such a possibility.…
The next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model predicts the formation of domain walls due to the spontaneous breaking of the discrete $Z_3$-symmetry at the electroweak phase transition, and they collapse before the epoch of big bang…
A QCD axion with a time-dependent decay constant has been known to be able to accommodate high-scale inflation without producing topological defects or too large isocurvature perturbations on CMB scales. We point out that a dynamical decay…
A favored scenario for axions to be dark matter is for them to form a cosmic string network that subsequently decays, allowing for a tight link between the axion mass and relic abundance. We discuss an example in which the axion is…
We explore the irreducible cosmological implications of a singlet real scalar field. Our focus is on theories with an approximate and spontaneously broken $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry where quasi-stable domain walls can form at early times. This…
Oscillons, extremely long-lived localized oscillations of a scalar field, are shown to be produced by evolving domain wall networks in quartic theory in two spatial dimensions. We study the oscillons in frequency space using the classical…