Related papers: The Axion Mass from 5D Small Instantons
We study novel solitonic solutions to Einstein-Klein-Gordon theory in the presence of a periodic scalar potential arising in models of axion-like particles. The potential depends on two parameters: the mass of the scalar field $m_a$ and the…
In this work, we investigate the effective parameter space associated with the axion mass and the axion decay constant in both the light and heavy QCD axion scenarios. We initiate our discussion by considering the simplest case of two…
Inspired by recent studies of high-scale decay constant or flavorful QCD axions, we review and clarify their existence in effective string models with anomalous $U(1)$ gauge groups. We find that such models, when coupled to charged scalars…
We consider the assumption that a tachyonic gluon mass imitates short-distance nonperturbative physics of QCD. The phenomenological implications include modifications of the QCD sum rules for correlators of currents with various quantum…
The axion Weak Gravity Conjecture implies that when parametrically increasing the axion decay constants, instanton corrections become increasingly important. We provide strong evidence for the validity of this conjecture by studying the…
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…
In this work we estimate the radius and the mass of a self-gravitating system made of axions. The quantum axion field satisfies the Klein-Gordon equation in a curved space-time and the metric components of this space-time are solutions to…
The gluon propagator is calculated in the instanton background in a form appropriate for extracting the momentum dependent gluon mass. In background-$\xi$-gauge we get for the mass $400$MeV for small $p^2$ independent of the gauge parameter…
Axions are some of the best motivated particles beyond the Standard Model. We show how the attractive self-interactions of dark matter (DM) axions over a broad range of masses, from $10^{-22}$ eV to $10^7$ GeV, can lead to nongravitational…
The QCD axion provides an elegant solution to the Strong CP Problem. While the minimal realization is vulnerable to the so-called "Axion Quality Problem", we will consider a more robust realization in the presence of a mirror sector related…
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…
The QCD axion has been postulated to exist because it solves the strong CP problem. Furthermore, if it exists axions should be created in the early Universe and could account for all the observed dark matter. In particular, axion masses of…
We study instanton effects in QCD at very high baryon density. In this regime instantons are suppressed by a large power of $(\Lambda_{QCD}/\mu)$, where $\Lambda_{QCD}$ is the QCD scale parameter and $\mu$ is the baryon chemical potential.…
The serious cosmological problems created by the axion-string/axion-domain-wall system in standard axion models are alleviated by positing the existence of a new confining force. The instantons of this force can generate an axion potential…
We suggest a constrained instanton (CI) solution in the physical QCD vacuum which is described by large-scale vacuum field fluctuations. This solution decays exponentially at large distances. It is stable only if the interaction of the…
We report on an interesting realization of the QCD axion, with mass in the range $\mathcal{O}(10)$ MeV. It has previously been shown that although this scenario is stringently constrained from multiple sources, the model remains viable for…
I propose a variant invisible axion model of spontaneous CP violation at the electroweak scale without CP domain wall and `strong CP' problems. Both large size QCD and small size non-QCD instantons break CP and Peccei-Quinn symmetries, and…
A QCD axion with a decay constant below $ 10 ^{ 11} ~{\rm GeV} $ is a strongly-motivated extension to the Standard Model, though its relic abundance from the misalignment mechanism or decay of cosmic defects is insufficient to explain the…
Finite density corrections to the lighter-than-QCD axion can invert the effective axion potential, sourcing a non-trivial axion field inside dense objects. We perform the first numerical study of the complete dynamics of the…
We present a novel data-driven method for determining the hadronic interaction strengths of axion-like particles (ALPs) with QCD-scale masses. Using our method, it is possible to calculate the hadronic production and decay rates of ALPs,…