Related papers: Couplings between QCD axion and photon from string…
Motivated by the flavored Peccei-Quinn symmetry for unifying the flavor physics and string theory, we construct an explicit model by introducing a $U(1)$ symmetry such that the $U(1)_X$-$[gravity]^2$ anomaly-free condition together with the…
The recent BICEP2 result shows that the Universe once has gone through the vacuum with the GUT scale energy density. The implied high scale inflation nullifies the dilution idea of topological defects, strings and domain walls, of the…
The structure of the moduli space of N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories is analyzed from an algebraic geometric viewpoint. The connection between the fundamental fields of the ultraviolet theory, and the gauge invariant composite fields of…
We consider a bound state problem for a family of supersymmetric gauge theories with fundamental matter. These theories can be obtained by a dimensional reduction of supersymmetric QCD from three dimensions to 1+1 and subsequent truncation…
We present a bottom-up holographic description of the QCD $\theta$-vacuum and the $U(1)_A$ anomaly in five dimensions. The multi-branched $\theta$-vacuum structure emerges geometrically from a higher-dimensional gauge field, while the axial…
We consider the possibility that the unification of the electroweak interactions and the strong force arises from string theory, at energies significantly lower than the string scale. As a tool, an effective grand unified field theory in…
A precise formulation of $U(1)$ local gauge invariance in QED is presented, which clearly shows that the gauge coupling associated with the unphysical longitudinal photon field is non-observable and actually has an arbitrary value. We then…
We study quark and lepton mass matrix textures in a model containing an additional $U(1)_X$ gauge symmetry with origins in string compactification. The $U(1)_X$ symmetry is broken near the string scale, and we assume that the anomalies are…
ALP-photon couplings are modeled in large ensembles of string vacua and random matrix theories. In all cases, the effective coupling increases polynomially in the number of ALPs, of which hundreds or thousands are expected in the string…
The axion solution to the strong CP problem makes use of a global Peccei-Quinn (PQ) U(1) symmetry which is susceptible to violations from quantum gravitational effects. We show explicitly how discrete gauge symmetries can protect the axion…
In this paper we study the consistency of generalized global symmetries in theories of quantum gravity, in particular string theory. Such global symmetries arise in theories with $(p+1)$-form gauge fields, and for spacetime dimension $d\leq…
We consider adjoint scalar matter coupled to QCD(1+1) in light-cone quantization on a finite `interval' with periodic boundary conditions. We work with the gauge group SU(2) which is modified to ${\rm{SU(2)/Z_2}}$ by the non-trivial…
Two dimensional QCD coupled to fermions in the adjoint representation of the gauge group $SU(N)$, a useful toy model of QCD strings, is supersymmetric for a certain ratio of quark mass and gauge coupling constant. Here we study the theory…
Violation of the $U(1)$ axial symmetry in QCD is stricter than the chiral $SU(2)$ breaking, simply because of the presence of the quantum axial anomaly. If the QCD gauge coupling is sent to zero, the strength of the $U(1)$ axial breaking…
We study chemical-potential dependence of confinement and mass gap in QCD with adjoint fermions in spacetime with one spatial compact direction. By calculating the one-loop effective potential for the Wilson line in the presence of chemical…
Dynamical mechanisms to generate an ultralight axion of mass $\sim 10^{-21}-10^{-22}$ eV in supergravity and strings are discussed. An ultralight particle of this mass provides a candidate for dark matter that may play a role for cosmology…
We investigate the cosmology of an axion that is fundamentally non-compact. During inflation, fluctuations of the effectively massless field populate many QCD vacua, thereby evading conventional isocurvature constraints while generating…
We analyze causality and unitarity constraints in graviton scattering amplitudes, aiming to establish new bounds on theories with $U(1)$-gravitational anomalies, such as axion models or strongly-coupled gauge theories. For this purpose, we…
We present a new mechanism to solve the strong CP problem using $N\geq2$ axions, each dynamically relaxing part of the $\bar\theta$ parameter. At high energies $M\gg\Lambda_{QCD}$ the $SU(3)_{c}$ group becomes the diagonal subgroup of an…
We look for minimal chiral sets of fermions beyond the standard model that are anomaly free and, simultaneously, vectorlike particles with respect to colour SU(3) and electromagnetic U(1). We then study whether the addition of such…