Related papers: Axion Cosmology
Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory of the strong interactions within the Standard Model of particle physics, which explains more than 99% of the mass of the visible Universe. However, there is evidence that a substantial portion of…
We study cosmological solutions of (pseudo)scalar theories with periodic potentials, in the presence of arbitrary cosmological fluids -- including a cosmological constant of either sign. Independently of the initial misalignment angle and…
We study cosmological implications of supersymmetric axion models in which the axion scale is generated radiatively. Such models lead to the so-called thermal inflation and subsequent reheating should be constrained not to yield a too large…
A simple yet compelling physical picture is proposed for the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and the Big Bang. The proposal leads to predictions, from first-principles with high precision, for the values of the Hubble constant,…
The Supersymmetric Standard Model is a benchmark theoretical framework for particle physics, yet it suffers from a number of deficiencies, chief among which is the strong CP problem. Solving this with an axion in the context of selected new…
The QCD axion solves the strong CP problem and represents an attractive particle candidate for cold dark matter (CDM). However, quantum fluctuations of the axion field during inflation easily result in large CDM isocurvature perturbations…
Considerable theoretical efforts have gone into expanding the reach of the QCD axion beyond its canonical mass--decay-constant relation. The $Z_\mathcal{N}$ QCD axion model reduces the QCD axion mass naturally, by invoking a discrete…
Attempts to connect string theory with astrophysical observation are hampered by a jargon barrier, where an intimidating profusion of orientifolds, Kahler potentials, etc. dissuades cosmologists from attempting to work out the astrophysical…
We discuss the appearance at the QCD phase transition, and the subsequent decay, of axion walls bounded by strings in N=1 axion models. We argue on intuitive grounds that the main decay mechanism is into barely relativistic axions. We…
The QCD axion stands as one of the most promising candidates for resolving the strong CP problem. However, the value of the axion's decay constant $f_a$ and, by extension, its mass $m_a$, remain uncertain within the framework of effective…
We study early and late time signatures of both QCD axion strings and hyperlight axion strings (axiverse strings). We focus on charge deposition onto axion strings from electromagnetic fields and subsequent novel neutralizing mechanisms due…
These lecture notes introduce the reader to the hot big bang model, cosmological perturbations, gravitational waves, the cosmic microwave background, inflation, the singularity problem, the cosmological constant problem and the cosmology of…
Cosmological observations are used to test for imprints of an ultra-light axion-like field (ULA), with a range of potentials $V(\phi)\propto[1-\cos(\phi/f)]^n$ set by the axion-field value $\phi$ and decay constant $f$. Scalar field…
I discuss the essential features of the QCD axion: the strong CP solution and hence its theoretical necessity. I also review the axion and axino effects on astrophysics and cosmology, in particular with emphasis on their role in the dark…
Dynamics of the inflaton scalar field oscillating around a minimum of the singular potentials in the expanding Universe is investigated. Asymptotic formulas are obtained describing the cosmological expansion at the late times. The problem…
Cosmological axions, an important dark matter candidate, are generated when a scalar field with a spontaneously broken O(2) invariance develops an explicitly O(2)-breaking tilt cosmologically, leading to coherent production of…
I review a (3+1)-dimensional, string-inspired cosmological model with gravitational anomalies (of Chern-Simons (CS) type) at early epochs, and a totally-antisymmetric torsion, dual to a massless axion-like field ("gravitational axion"),…
Cosmological colliders can preserve information from interactions at very high energy scale, and imprint them on cosmological observables. Taking the squeezed limit of cosmological perturbation bispectrum, information of the intermediate…
This set of lectures provides an overview of the basic theory and phenomenology of the cosmic microwave background. Topics include a brief historical review; the physics of temperature and polarization fluctuations; acoustic oscillations of…
Contents: 1. The strong CP problem 2. Dark matter axions 3. The cavity detector of galactic halo axions 4. Caustic rings in the density distribution of cold dark matter halos