Related papers: Axion-Dilaton Destabilization and the Hubble Tensi…
We introduce a theoretical framework to interpret the Hubble tension, based on the combination of a metric $f(R)$ gravity with a dynamical dark energy contribution. The modified gravity provides the non-minimally coupled scalar field…
The values of the Hubble constant ($\rm{H_0}$) inferred from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and local measurements via the distance ladder exhibit a $\sim5\sigma$ tension. In this work we propose that the tension might be partially…
The recent analysis from the SH0ES Collaboration has confirmed the existence of a Hubble tension between measurements at high redshift ($z> 1000$) and at low redshift ($z<1$) at the $5\sigma$ level with the low redshift measurement giving a…
String theory has been claimed to give rise to natural fuzzy dark matter candidates in the form of ultralight axions. In this paper we revisit this claim by a detailed study of how moduli stabilisation affects the masses and decay constants…
Models in which dark energy interacts with dark matter have been proposed in the literature to help explain why dark energy should only come to dominate in recent times. In this paper, we present a dynamical framework to calculate…
We investigate the generation of curvature and isocurvature (dilaton, moduli and axion) perturbations in a general class of axion-dilaton-moduli models,including the pre-big bang scenario. Allowing for an arbitrary coupling constant between…
Cosmological evolution of axion field in the early universe might be significantly affected by a thermal friction induced by the axion coupling to thermalized hidden sector. We examine the effects of such a thermal friction on axion dark…
The Hubble tension can be significantly eased if there is an early component of dark energy that becomes active around the time of matter-radiation equality. Early dark energy models suffer from a coincidence problem -- the physics of…
The $\Lambda$ cold dark matter ($\Lambda$CDM) cosmological model provides a good description of a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological observations. However, severe challenges to the phenomenological $\Lambda$CDM model have emerged…
Over the past decade, the disparity between the value of the cosmic expansion rate directly determined from measurements of distance and redshift or instead from the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological model calibrated by measurements from…
The $H_0$ tension between low- and high- redshift measurements is definitely a serious issue faced by current cosmologists since it ranges from 4$\sigma$ to 6$\sigma$. To relieve this tension, in this paper we propose a new interacting dark…
Several theoretical motivations point to ultralight QCD axions with large decay constants $f_a \simeq \mathcal{O}(10^{16}-10^{17})$ GeV, to which experimental proposals are dedicated. This regime is known to face the problem of…
After the first nearly simultaneous joint observations of gravitational-waves and electromagnetic emission produced by the coalescence of a binary neutron star system, another probe of the cosmic expansion which is independent from the…
Some recent developments in the weakly-coupled heterotic string phenomenology are reviewed. We discuss several important issues such as dilaton/moduli stabilization, supersymmetry breaking (by hidden-sector gaugino condensation), gauge…
We propose an alternative scenario for the axion misalignment mechanism based on the nontrivial interplay between the axion and a light dilaton in the early universe. Dark matter abundance is still sourced by the initial misalignment of the…
Dark gauge sectors and axions are well-motivated in string theory. We demonstrate that if a confining gauge sector gives rise to dark glueballs that are a fraction of the dark matter, and the associated axion has a decay constant near the…
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…
A current problem within the {\Lambda}CDM framework is the tension between late and early time measurements of the Hubble parameter today, H0. We entertain the possibility that dark energy modeled as multiple interacting axion-like-particle…
A compelling production mechanism for QCD axion dark matter is from the scaling dynamics of early universe axion strings. We show that in DFSZ-like models containing tree-level interactions between fermions and the axion, friction between…
Early Dark Energy (EDE) is a prominent model to resolve the Hubble tension, which employs a dynamical axion with a periodic potential. In this work, we take first steps towards the embedding of this model into stable compactifications of…