Related papers: On Axion Reheating in the String Landscape
We propose heavy axions as a natural superheavy dark matter candidate in string theory, with the relic density of dark matter originating in quantum fluctuations during cosmic inflation. String Theory is well known for the possibility of…
We study cosmic strings in the complex symmetron model, a scalar-tensor theory with a spontaneously broken local $U(1)$ symmetry in low matter density regions. Using numerical simulations, we show that these strings preferentially attach to…
A distinctive feature of string unification is the possibility of unification by a non-simply-laced group. This occurs most naturally in four dimensional type~II string models where the gauge symmetry is realized by Kac-Moody algebras at…
We discuss the unification of gauge couplings within the framework of a wide class of realistic free-fermionic string models which have appeared in the literature, including the flipped SU(5), SO(6)xSO(4), and various SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1)…
In a broad class of theories, the relic abundance of dark matter is determined by interactions internal to a thermalized dark sector, with no direct involvement of the Standard Model (SM). We point out that these theories raise an immediate…
The heterotic string compactified on a six-torus is described by a low-energy effective action consisting of N=4 supergravity coupled to N=4 super Yang-Mills, a theory that was studied in detail many years ago. By explicitly carrying out…
In the framework where the strong coupling is dynamical, the QCD sector may confine at a much higher temperature than it would in the Standard Model, and the temperature-dependent mass of the QCD axion evolves in a non-trivial way. We find…
We propose a novel observational strategy for the detection of pseudoaxions, emerging as transient resonances tied explicitly to the evolution of internal geometry in string theory and brane-world cosmologies. Building upon our previous…
We study a class of four-dimensional N=1 heterotic string theories which have nontrivial quantum dynamics arising from asymptotically free gauge groups. These models are obtained by orbifolding 4d N=2 heterotic/type II dual pairs by…
In this article we study the significance of string loop corrections, in a perturbative moduli stabilization scenario, focusing on their role in unraveling the origin of dark radiation in the late cosmological epoch and their correlation to…
Cosmic strings formed when the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaks post-inflation are expected to emit axions throughout their lifetime. The details of the evolution of this network and the associated spectrum of axions are crucial for obtaining…
Alternative gauge choices for worldsheet supersymmetry can elucidate dynamical phenomena obscured in the usual superconformal gauge. In the particular example of the tachyonic $E_8$ heterotic string, we use a judicious gauge choice to show…
Axion fluctuations generated during inflation lead to isocurvature and non-Gaussian temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation. Following a previous analysis for the model independent string axion we consider the…
We study gauge theories where quasi-hidden sectors are added to the MSSM for the sake of string consistency conditions which would otherwise not be satisfied. We focus on quiver gauge theories motivated by weakly coupled type II orientifold…
The study of discrete gauge symmetries in field theory and string theory is often carried out by embedding them into continuous symmetries. Many symmetries however do not seem to admit such embedding, for instance discrete isometries given…
We consider the instability of fluctuations in an oscillating scalar field which obeys the Sine-Gordon equation. We present simple closed-form analytic solutions describing the parametric resonance in the Sine-Gordon model. The structure of…
Consistent frameworks of quantum gravity often predict the existence of large numbers of ultralight pseudoscalar degrees of freedom, forming the phenomenological landscape of the String Axiverse. The complexity of the extra-dimensional…
We study the general multi-axion systems, focusing on the possibility of large field inflation driven by axions. We find that through axion mixing from a non-diagonal metric on the moduli space and/or from St\"uckelberg coupling to a U(1)…
After revisiting the heterotic string-derived low-energy effective model of \cite{Ashfaque:2016ydg, Athanasopoulos:2014bba, Faraggi:2016xnm, Ashfaque:2016jha} constructed in the four-dimensional free fermionic formulation, we find two…
We study gauge coupling unification in the presence of extra dimensions compactified at a few TeV. Achieving unification requires a large number of gauge boson Kaluza-Klein excitations lighter than the string scale, such that the…