Related papers: Foamy Dark Matter from Monodromies
One of the major challenges of modern physics is to decipher the nature of dark matter. Astrophysical observations provide ample evidence for the existence of an invisible and dominant mass component in the observable universe, from the…
The era of precision cosmology allows us to test the composition of the dark matter. Mixed ultralight or fuzzy dark matter (FDM) is a cosmological model with dark matter composed of a combination of particles of mass $m\leq…
Large turns in multifield inflation can lead to a very rich phenomenology, but are difficult to realise in supergravity, and typically require large field space curvatures. In this work, we present a mechanism to realise multiple sharp…
We investigate a class of models for dark matter and/or negative-pressure, dynamical dark energy consisting of ``spintessence,'' a complex scalar field $\phi$ spinning in a U(1)-symmetric potential $V(\phi)=V(|\phi|)$. As the Universe…
Assuming the existence of a scalar field which undergoes "ghost condensation" and which has a suitably chosen potential, it is possible to obtain a non-singular bouncing cosmology in the presence of regular matter and radiation. The…
We revisit the ALP miracle scenario where the inflaton and dark matter are unified by a single axion-like particle (ALP). We first extend our previous analysis on the inflaton dynamics to identify the whole viable parameter space consistent…
Ultralight axion like particles (ALPs) of mass $m_a\in (10^{-21}\rm{eV}-10^{-22}\rm{eV})$ with axion decay constant $f_a\sim 10^{17}\rm{GeV}$ can be candidates for fuzzy dark matter (FDM). If celestial bodies like Earth and Sun are immersed…
Ultra-light axion-like particles (ALPs) can be a viable solution to the dark matter problem. The scalar field associated with ALPs, coupled to the electromagnetic field, acts as an active birefringent medium, altering the polarisation…
In the Standard Model a Dark Matter candidate is missing, but it is relatively simple to enlarge the model including one or more suitable particles. We consider in this paper one such extension, inspired by simplicity and by the goal to…
Dark Matter (DM) may be comprised of axion-like particles (ALPs) with couplings to photons and the standard model fermions. In this paper we study photon signals arising from cosmic ray (CR) electron scattering on background ALPs. For a…
Dark matter (DM) may have its origin in a pre-Big Bang epoch, the cosmic inflation. Here, we consider for the first time a broad class of scenarios where a massive free scalar field unavoidably reaches an equilibrium between its classical…
Empirical theories of Dark Matter like MOND gravity and of Dark Energy like f(R) gravity were motivated by astronomical data. But could these theories be branches rooted from a more general hence natural framework? Here we propose the…
The stability of dark matter is normally achieved by imposing extra symmetries beyond those of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. In this paper we present a framework where the dark matter stability emerges as a consequence of the…
Fuzzy dark matter (FDM) is a compelling candidate for dark matter, offering a natural explanation for the structure of diffuse low-mass haloes. However, the canonical FDM model with a mass of $10^{-22}~{\rm eV}$ encounters challenges in…
The continuous shift symmetry of axions is at the heart of several realizations of inflationary models. In particular, axion monodromy inflation aims at achieving super-Planckian field ranges for the inflaton in the context of string…
We explore the phenomenology of QCD axion and axion-like particle (ALP) dark matter production via misalignment during inflationary reheating. We investigate scenarios involving inflaton oscillating in a generic potential $\sim \phi^n$,…
Dark matter may consist of axion-like particles (ALPs). When polarized electromagnetic radiation passes through the dark-matter media, interaction with background ALPs affects the polarization of photons. The condensate of axionic dark…
Axions or more generally axion-like particles (ALPs) are pseudo-scalar particles predicted by many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics (SM) and considered as highly viable candidates for dark matter (DM) in the universe. If…
A new mechanism for producing axion dark matter is proposed. By invoking low-scale inflation and a kinetic mixing between the axion and the inflaton, it is shown that the axion is driven to a field point slightly displaced from the…
The cold dark matter model successfully explains both the emergence and evolution of cosmic structures on large scales and, when we include a cosmological constant, the properties of the homogeneous and isotropic Universe. However, the cold…