Related papers: Axion String Dynamics I: 2+1D
We present a new mechanism to deplete the energy density of the QCD axion, making decay constants as high as $f_a \simeq 10^{17}\,\rm{GeV}$ viable for generic initial conditions. In our setup, the axion couples to a massless dark photon…
In an axiverse with numerous axions, the cosmological moduli problem poses a significant challenge because the abundance of axions can easily exceed that of dark matter. The well-established stochastic axion scenario offers a simple…
The post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking scenario provides a unique opportunity to pinpoint the QCD axion dark matter mass, which is a crucial input for laboratory experiments that are designed for probing specific mass…
The decay constant of the QCD axion is required by observation to be small compared to the Planck scale. In theories of "natural inflation," and certain proposed anthropic solutions of the cosmological constant problem, it would be…
It is shown, that the energy density of coherent axion field oscillations in the cosmology of standard invisible axion should be distributed in the Universe in the form of archioles, being nonlinear inhomogeneous structure, reflecting the…
Existing searches for cosmic axions relics have relied heavily on the axion being non-relativistic and making up dark matter. However, light axions can be copiously produced in the early Universe and remain relativistic today, thereby…
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 the cosmology of axions in the post-inflationary scenario, where random initial conditions and the ensuing string-domain-wall network generate an isocurvature power spectrum. Axions radiated from strings behave as warm, wave-like…
I review several aspects of torsion in string-inspired cosmologies. In particular, I discuss its connection with fundamental, string-model independent, axion fields associated with the massless gravitational multiplet of the string. I argue…
In string gas cosmology, extra dimensions are stabilised by a gas of strings. In the matter-dominated era, competition between matter pushing the extra dimensions to expand and the string gas pulling them back can lead to oscillations of…
Four decades after its prediction, the axion remains the most compelling solution to the Strong-CP problem and a well-motivated dark matter candidate, inspiring a host of elegant and ultrasensitive experiments based on axion-photon mixing.…
We consider wake-like density fluctuations produced by cosmic strings at the quark-hadron transition in the early universe. We show that low momentum axions which are produced through the radiation from the axionic string at an earlier…
In string gas cosmology, the extra dimensions of the underlying theory are kept at a microscopic scale by a gas of strings. In the matter-dominated era, however, dust pressure can lead to oscillations of the extra dimensions and to…
We calculate dilaton and axion radiation generated in the collision of two straight initially unexcited strings and give a rough cosmological estimate of dilaton and axion densities produced via this mechanism in the early universe.
We derive analytic expressions for the interaction energy between two general $U(1)$ cosmic strings as the function of their relative orientation and the ratio of the coupling constants in the model. The results are relevant to the…
I discuss the essential features of the QCD axion: the strong CP solution and hence its theoretical necessity. I also review the effects of the QCD axion on astrophysics and cosmology, in particular with emphasis on its role in the dark…
Understanding the confinement mechanism in gauge theories and the universality of effective string-like descriptions of gauge flux tubes remains a fundamental challenge in modern physics. We probe string modes of motion with dynamical…
The nature of dark matter is one of the longest-standing puzzles in science. Axions or axion-like particles are a key possibility, and arise in mechanisms to solve the strong CP problem but also in low-energy limits of string theory.…
String theory generically predicts the coupling between the Affleck-Dine field and axion field through higher-dimensional operators. We thus explore the Affleck-Dine baryogenesis on an axion background. It turns out that the axion…
When axionic strings carry a global charge, domain walls bounded by such strings may not be allowed to decay completely. This happens in particular in some models where a composite axion-like particle is the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson of…