Related papers: Trapping Effect for QCD Axion Dark Matter
A scalar field with an exponential potential has the particular property that it is attracted into a solution in which its energy scales as the dominant component (radiation or matter) of the Universe, contributing a fixed fraction of the…
We study scenarios where a scalar field has a spatially varying vacuum expectation value such that the total field variation is super-Planckian. We focus on the case where the scalar field controls the coupling of a U(1) gauge field, which…
The dynamical properties of a model of dark energy in which two scalar fields are coupled by a non-canonical kinetic term are studied. We show that overall the addition of the coupling has only minor effects on the dynamics of the two-field…
Thermal misalignment provides an alternative to the standard misalignment mechanism for the cosmological production of scalar dark matter. In this framework, feeble couplings to particles in the thermal bath generate a finite-temperature…
We propose a new mechanism to produce axion dark matter from inflationary fluctuations. Quantum fluctuations during inflation are strengthened by a coupling of the axion kinetic term to the inflaton, which we parametrize as an effective…
We show that a recent constraint on the cosmic birefringence effect due to dark energy can be related to the constraints on the coupling of axion dark matter to photon, by relying on a simple model of two-axion alignment mechanism with…
We explore the dynamics of assisted quintessence, where more than one scalar field is present with the same potential. For potentials with tracking solutions, the fields naturally approach the same values; in the context of inflation this…
Light scalar and pseudoscalar particles are compelling dark matter candidates, with a vast running experimental program to discover them. Previous studies have shown that these light fields can generate sizable isocurvature perturbations in…
The conventional misalignment mechanism for scalar dark matter depends on the initial field value, which governs the oscillation amplitude and present-day abundance. We present a mechanism by which a feeble (Planck-suppressed) coupling of…
The existence of light QCD axions, whose mass depends on an additional free parameter, can lead to a new ground state of matter, where the sourced axion field reduces the nucleon effective mass. The presence of the axion field has…
A rotation in the field space of a complex scalar field corresponds to a Bose-Einstein condensation of $U(1)$ charges. We point out that fluctuations in this rotating condensate exhibit sound-wave modes, which can be excited by cosmic…
In an axiverse with numerous axions, the cosmological moduli problem poses a significant challenge because the abundance of axions can easily exceed that of dark matter. The well-established stochastic axion scenario offers a simple…
We propose a model which produces dark energy perturbations large enough to explain the lack of power seen at the quadrupole scale in the cosmic microwave background. If the dark energy is frozen from horizon exit during inflation until…
If dark matter is made of QCD axions, its abundance is determined by the vacuum expectation value acquired by the axion field during inflation. The axion is usually assumed to follow the equilibrium distribution arising from quantum…
Stable scalars can be copiously produced in the Early Universe even if they have no coupling to other fields. We study production of such scalars during and after (high scale) inflation, and obtain strong constraints on their mass scale.…
The observed dark matter abundance in the Universe can be fully accounted for by a minimally coupled spectator scalar field that was light during inflation and has sufficiently strong self-coupling. In this scenario, dark matter was…
We study a particular version of the theory of cosmological $\alpha$-attractors with $\alpha=1/3$, in which both the dilaton (inflaton) field and the axion field are light during inflation. The kinetic terms in this theory originate from…
Plateau-plateau transition in integer quantum Hall effect is a phase transition between metal and insulator. The behavior how the width $\Delta B$ of the transition changes with temperature and frequency of radiations imposed has been…
Although a direct interaction between WIMP CDM candidates and scalar Quintessence fields (sources of Dark Energy) poses severe phenomenological threats, yet it is possible that the presence of Quintessence produces profound deviations in…
The $SL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ invariant $\alpha$-attractor models have plateau potentials with respect to the inflaton and axion fields. The potential in the axion direction is almost exactly flat during inflation, hence, the axion field remains…