Related papers: Strong CP problem and axion dark matter with small…
We explore whether the axion which solves the strong CP problem can naturally be much lighter than the canonical QCD axion. The $Z_\mathcal{N}$ symmetry proposed by Hook, with $\mathcal{N}$ mirror and degenerate worlds coexisting in Nature…
The BICEP2 experiment determined the Hubble parameter during inflation to be about $10^{14}$ GeV. Such high inflation scale is in tension with the QCD axion dark matter if the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry remains broken during and after…
Axion particles can form macroscopic condensates, whose size can be galactic in scale for models with very small axion masses $m\sim10^{-22}$ eV, and which are sometimes referred to under the name of Fuzzy Dark Matter. Many analyses of…
We investigate the cosmology of an axion that is fundamentally non-compact. During inflation, fluctuations of the effectively massless field populate many QCD vacua, thereby evading conventional isocurvature constraints while generating…
We discuss the possible sources of dark matter axions in the early universe. In the standard thermal scenario, an axion string network forms at the Peccei-Quinn phase transition $T\sim \fa$ and then radiatively decays into a cosmological…
The axion is the most attractive candidate to solve the strong CP problem in QCD. If it exists, the inflationary universe produces axion fluctuations which are mixtures of isocurvature and adiabatic fluctuations in general. We investigate…
We present a new framework of grand unification that is equipped with an axion solution to the strong CP problem without a domain wall problem when the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is spontaneously broken after inflation. Our grand unified…
We show that the rotation of the QCD axion field, aided by $B-L$ violation from supersymmetric $R$-parity violating couplings, can yield the observed baryon abundance. Strong sphaleron processes transfer the angular momentum of the axion…
New sources of CP violation beyond the Standard Model are crucial to explain the baryon asymmetry in the Universe. We discuss the impact of new CP violating interactions in theories where a dark matter candidate is predicted by the…
We present a QCD axion model where the couplings of the axion to nucleons, electrons, and muons are naturally suppressed because of the appropriate choice of the Peccei-Quinn charges of the Standard Model fermions. We reexamine…
A model of high scale inflation is presented where the radial part of the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field with a non-minimal coupling to gravity plays the role of the inflaton, and the QCD axion is the dark matter. A quantum fluctuation of…
We explore a scenario that allows for a strong first order phase-transition of QCD at non-negligible baryon number in the early universe and its possible cosmological observable consequences. The main assumption is a quasi-stable QCD-vacuum…
There is increasing evidence suggesting a discrepancy between the cosmic dipole observed in the number count of distant galaxies and the one derived from the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In this study, we investigate the possibility…
Cosmologically stable, light particles that came into thermal contact with the Standard Model in the early universe may persist today as a form of hot dark matter. For relics with masses in the eV range, their role in structure formation…
This proceedings' contribution explores the rationale behind the axion as a resolution to the strong CP puzzle. It outlines various benchmark axion models and examines their implications, focusing on two key aspects: (i) the axion's…
The axion has emerged in recent years as a leading particle candidate to provide the mysterious dark matter in the cosmos, as we review here for a general scientific audience. We describe first the historical roots of the axion in the…
The dark matter puzzle is one of the most important open problems in modern physics. The ultra-light axion is a well-motivated dark matter candidate, conceived to resolve the strong-CP problem of quantum chromodynamics. Numerous precision…
In this paper, we discuss dark matter candidates in a visible heavy QCD axion model. There, a mirror copied sector of the Standard Model with mass scales larger than the Standard Model is introduced. By larger mass scales of the mirrored…
The axion is a light pseudoscalar particle which suppresses CP-violating effects in strong interactions and also happens to be an excellent dark matter candidate. Axions constituting the dark matter halo of our galaxy may be detected by…
Axion as a coherently oscillating scalar field is known to behave as a cold dark matter in all cosmologically relevant scales. For conventional axion mass with 10^{-5} eV, the axion reveals a characteristic damping behavior in the evolution…