Related papers: Axions of Evil
The QCD axion is a good dark matter candidate. The observed dark matter abundance can arise from misalignment or defect mechanisms, which generically require an axion decay constant $f_a \sim \mathcal{O}(10^{11})$ GeV (or higher). We…
The manuscript deals with an interacting scalar field that mimics the evolution of the so-called Axion Scalar Dark Matter or Axion like particles with ultra-light masses. It is discussed that such a scalar alongwith an ordinary fluid…
The recent detection of B-modes by BICEP2 has non-trivial implications for axion dark matter implied by combining the tensor interpretation with isocurvature constraints from Planck. In this paper the measurement is taken as fact, and its…
Generalised axion-like scalar fields provide a well-motivated framework for describing the late-time acceleration of the Universe. As the field evolves, it rolls down its potential and, depending on its mass and initial conditions, it may…
Motivated by their potential role as dark matter, we study the cosmological evolution of light scalar and vector fields non-minimally coupled to gravity. Our focus is on a situation where the dominant contribution to the energy density…
We show that if dark matter consists of QCD axions in the post-inflationary scenario more than ten percent of it efficiently collapses into Bose stars at matter-radiation equality. Such a result is mostly independent of the present…
The axion, motivated as a solution to the strong CP problem, is also a viable dark matter candidate. We use N-body simulations to study the formation of substructures from white-noise density fluctuations. The density profiles of our…
Axions are hypothetical particles that may explain the observed dark matter (DM) density and the non-observation of a neutron electric dipole moment. An increasing number of axion laboratory searches are underway worldwide, but these…
We discuss inflation models within supersymmetry and supergravity frameworks with a landscape of chiral superfields and one $U(1)$ shift symmetry which is broken by non-perturbative symmetry breaking terms in the superpotential. We label…
We consider the statistical properties of vacua and inflationary trajectories associated with a random multifield potential. Our underlying motivation is the string landscape, but our calculations apply to general potentials. Using random…
We show that axion phenomenology may be significantly different than conventionally assumed in theories which exhibit late phase transitions (below the QCD scale). In such theories one can find multiple pseudoscalars with axion-like…
We consider the possibility that dark matter and dark energy can be explained by the minimal KSVZ axion model. This is possible if the lowest energy metastable minimum of the scalar potential has zero energy density, which is possible in…
Motivated UV frameworks generically predict the existence of multiple axion fields. Their interplay gives rise to novel collective phenomena - including level crossings and the formation of string bundles - which modify the predicted mass…
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…
A generic low-energy prediction of string theory is the existence of a large collection of axions, commonly known as a string axiverse. Axions also have a natural cosmological production mechanism, vacuum misalignment, making them…
Axion-like particles (ALPs) are a well-motivated dark matter candidate that solve some of the problems in the clustering of large scale structure in cosmology. ALPs are often described by a simplified quadratic potential to specify the…
Axions, if realized in nature, can be copiously produced in the early universe via thermal processes, contributing to the mass-energy density of thermal hot relics. In light of the most recent cosmological observations, we analyze two…
We propose a cosmological scenario based on the assumption that the Standard Model possesses a large number of copies. It is demonstrated that baryons in the hidden copies of the standard model can naturally account for the dark matter. The…
In supersymmetric theories, the presence of axions usually implies the existence of a non-compact, (pseudo)moduli space. In gauge mediated models, the axion would seem a particularly promising dark matter candidate. The cosmology of the…
Slightly extending a right-handed neutrino version of the $3-3-1$ model, we show that it is not only possible to solve the strong CP problem but also to give the total dark matter abundance reported by the Planck collaboration.…