Related papers: Structure Formation and Microlensing with Axion Mi…
Axions and axion-like particles are compelling candidates for the missing dark matter of the universe. As they undergo gravitational collapse, they can form compact objects such as axion stars or even black holes. In this paper, we study…
Axion miniclusters are dense bound structures of dark matter axions that are predicted to form in the post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking scenario. Although dense, miniclusters can easily be perturbed or even become unbound by…
The default assumption of early universe cosmology is that the postinflationary universe was radiation dominated until it was about 47000 years old. Direct evidence for the radiation dominated epoch extends back until nucleosynthesis, which…
The QCD axion and axion-like particles, as leading dark matter candidates, can also have interesting implications for dark matter substructures if the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is broken after inflation. In such a scenario, axion perturbations…
We study the formation and the subsequent mass growth of axion stars inside axion miniclusters. Numerically solving the Schr\"odinger-Poisson equations with realistic initial conditions we find that the axion stars exhibit similar…
In the scenario in which QCD axion dark matter is produced after inflation, the Universe is populated by large inhomogeneities on very small scales. Eventually, these fluctuations will collapse gravitationally to form dense axion…
Previously, it has been established that axion dark matter (DM) is clustered to form clumps (axion miniclusters) with masses $M\sim10^{-12}M_\odot$. The passages of such clumps through the Earth are very rare events occurring once in $10^5$…
We estimate collapse rates of axion stars in our galaxy based on the axion minicluster mass function of the Milky Way dark matter halo. We consider axion-like particles with different temperature evolution of the axion mass, including the…
We consider how QCD axions produced by the misalignment mechanism could form galactic dark matter halos. We recall that stationary, gravitationally stable axion field configurations have the size of an asteroid with masses of order…
A non-negligible fraction of the QCD axion dark matter may form gravitationally bound Bose Einstein condensates, which are commonly known as axion stars or axion clumps. Such astrophysical objects have been recently proposed as the cause…
In a recent paper we pointed out that supermassive black holes, with masses ranging from $10^5$ to $10^{10} M_\odot$ form naturally at cosmic dawn if the dark matter is QCD axions or axion-like particles with mass $m > 10^{-16}\,…
The properties of axion miniclusters and of the voids between them can have very strong implications for the discovery of axions and the dark matter of the Universe. These properties can be strongly affected by axion dynamics in the early…
Axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) are some of the best-motivated dark matter (DM) candidates. Under certain circumstances, large axion fluctuations in the early universe can collapse to form dense configurations called axion clumps.…
Stellar microlensing observations tightly constrain compact object dark matter in the mass range $(10^{-11} - 10^{3}) M_{\odot}$. Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) form clusters, and it has been argued that these microlensing constraints are…
Dark matter direct (and indirect) detection experiments usually can only determine a specific combination of a power of the coupling and the dark matter density. This is also true for axion haloscopes which are sensitive to the product…
If the symmetry breaking inducing the axion occurs after the inflation, the large axion isocurvature perturbations can arise due to a different axion amplitude in each causally disconnected patch. This causes the enhancement of the…
If QCD axion dark matter formed post-inflation, axion miniclusters emerged from isocurvature fluctuations and later merged hierarchically into minihalos. These minihalos, potentially disrupted by stellar encounters in the Milky Way, affect…
In a recent paper we have shown that a minimally coupled, self-interacting scalar field of mass $m$ can form black holes of mass $M=\sqrt{3}/(4m)$ (in Planck units). If dark matter is composed by axions, they can form miniclusters that for…
Despite considerable experimental progress large parts of the axion-like particle (ALP) parameter space remain difficult to probe in terrestrial experiments. In some cases, however, small-scale structure of the ALP dark matter (DM)…
Axion-like particle (ALP) dark matter shows distinctive behavior on scales where wavelike effects dominate over self-gravity. Ultralight axions are candidates for fuzzy dark matter (FDM) whose de Broglie wavelength in virialized halos…