Related papers: Axion Models with High Scale Inflation
We reexamine the recently proposed "little inflation" scenario that allows for a strong first order phase-transition of QCD at non-negligible baryon number in the early universe and its possible observable consequences. The scenario is…
We investigate the complementary information to be gained from inflationary gravitational wave (IGW) signals and searches for QCD axion dark matter. We focus on post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn (PQ) breaking axion models that are…
In the framework of axion-gauge fields models, primordial gravitational wave perturbations could be generated during the inflationary epoch from not only the quantum fluctuation of gravitons but also the dynamics of hidden gauge fields…
The inflationary paradigm has enjoyed phenomenological success, however, a compelling particle physics realization is still lacking. The key obstruction is that the requirement of a suitably flat scalar potential is sensitive to…
We analyze in detail the background cosmological evolution of a scalar field coupled to a massless abelian gauge field through an axial term $\frac{\phi}{f_\gamma} F \tilde{F}$, such as in the case of an axion. Gauge fields in this case are…
Reheating after inflation can occur through inflaton decay or efficient parametric resonant production of particles from the oscillation of the inflaton. If the particles produced interact with scalars that were light during inflation, then…
We present a scale invariant extension of the Standard model allowing for the Kim-Shifman-Vainstein-Zakharov (KSVZ) axion solution of the strong CP problem in QCD. We add the minimal number of new particles and show that the Peccei-Quinn…
It is widely believed that string theory easily allows for a QCD axion in the cosmologically favoured mass range. The required small decay constant, $f_a\ll M_P$, can be implemented by using a large compactification volume. This points to…
The Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism provides an elegant solution to the strong CP problem. However astrophysical constraints on axions require the PQ breaking scale to be far higher than the electroweak scale. In supersymmetric models the PQ…
We study the axion monodromy inflation with a non-perturbatively generated sinusoidal term. The potential form is a mixture between the natural inflation and the axion monodromy inflation potentials. The sinusoidal term is subdominant in…
We consider the potential problems due to the production of inflatinos and gravitinos after inflation. Inflationary models with a single scale set by the microwave background anisotropies have a low enough reheat temperature to avoid…
We consider supersymmetric model with Peccei-Quinn symmetry and study effects of saxion on the evolution of the universe, paying particular attention to the effects of thermal bath. The axion multiplet inevitably couples to colored…
Planck data robustly exclude the simple $\lambda\phi^4$ scenario for inflation. This is also the case for models of Axion Inflation in which the inflaton field is the radial part of the Peccei-Quinn complex scalar field. In this letter we…
We study the multifield dynamics of axion models nonminimally coupled to gravity. As usual, we consider a canonical $U(1)$ symmetry-breaking model in which the axion is the phase of a complex scalar field. If the complex scalar field has a…
Thermal inflation is an attractive idea to dilute cosmic density of unwanted particles such as moduli fields which cause cosmological difficulties. However, it also dilutes preexisting baryon asymmetry and some viable baryogenesis is…
We study the non-linear dynamics of axion inflation, capturing for the first time the inhomogeneity and full dynamical range during strong backreaction, till the end of inflation. Accounting for inhomogeneous effects leads to a number of…
Topological defects can have significant cosmological consequences, so their production must be examined carefully. It is usually assumed that topological defects are produced if the temperature becomes sufficiently high, but in reality…
The original model of axion natural inflation produces a tensor-to-scalar ratio above the experimental limit. Aligned axion inflation admits inflationary trajectories that originate near a saddle point of the two-field potential, and…
We present a scenario where an axion-like field drives inflation until a potential barrier, which keeps a waterfall field at the origin, disappears and a waterfall transition occurs. Such a barrier separates the scale of inflation from that…
The \mu parameter of the supersymmetric standard model is replaced by \lambda S, where S is a singlet chiral superfield, introducing a Peccei--Quinn symmetry into the theory. Dynamics at the electroweak scale naturally solves both the…