Related papers: Axion Quality Problem Alleviated by Non-Minimal Co…
We explore a class of axion models where an accidental $\mathrm{U}(1)$ Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry automatically emerges from the interplay of vertical (grand-unified) and horizontal (flavor) gauge symmetries. We study a specific Pati-Salam…
Motivated by the flavored Peccei-Quinn symmetry for unifying the flavor physics and string theory, we construct an explicit model by introducing a $U(1)$ symmetry such that the $U(1)_X$-$[gravity]^2$ anomaly-free condition together with the…
This paper investigates the impact of small instanton effects on the axion mass in composite axion models. In particular, we focus on the Composite Accidental Axion (CAA) models, which are designed to address the axion quality problem, and…
The axion solution to the strong CP problem requires an anomalous global U(1) symmetry. We show that the existence of such a symmetry is a natural consequence of an extra dimension in which a gauged U(1) is spontaneously broken on one of…
QCD axion models have been proposed as a solution to the strong CP problem. QCD instanton effects explicitly violate the global U(1) Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry, and the axion potential is minimized at the CP conserving points. However, it…
The axion solution to the strong CP problem makes use of a global Peccei-Quinn U(1) symmetry which is susceptible to violations from quantum gravitational effects. We show how discrete gauge symmetries can protect the axion from such…
We present global fits of cosmologically stable axion-like particle and QCD axion models in the mass range 0.1 neV to 10 eV. We focus on the case where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is broken before the end of inflation, such that the initial…
Gravitational effects are known to violate global symmetries, threatening the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) solution to the strong CP problem. Ultraviolet completions featuring a gauged $U(1)$ symmetry, where $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ arises as an accidental…
We propose an efficient mechanism to realize an invisible axion from a low scale Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking. Our basic model only contains a gauge boson, an up-type vector-like quark, two Higgs doublets and two Higgs singlets besides…
Invisible axion models that solve the strong CP problem via the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism typically have a quality problem that arises from quantum gravity effects which violate all global symmetries. These models therefore require…
We discuss a possibility that a superconformal dynamics induces the emergence of a global $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ symmetry to solve the strong CP problem through the axion. Fields spontaneously breaking the $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ symmetry couple to new…
Composite axion scenarios offer a robust field theoretic justification for the existence of a Peccei-Quinn symmetry of high quality. We present a new class of realizations that are naturally embedded in Grand-Unified Theories, retain…
The idea that the gravity-induced breaking of global symmetries is encoded in Planck-suppressed operators is not scale-invariant: heavy particles which have nothing to do with the UV completion of gravity can mediate the breaking and…
It is difficult to construct a post-inflation QCD axion model that solves the axion quality problem (and hence the Strong CP problem) without introducing a cosmological disaster. In a post-inflation axion model, the axion field value is…
We study a realization of the inflationary scenario where the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is spontaneously broken during inflation, facilitated by its non-minimal coupling to gravity. This results in effectively two-field inflation: the…
The axion solution to the strong CP problem makes use of a global Peccei-Quinn (PQ) U(1) symmetry which is susceptible to violations from quantum gravitational effects. We show explicitly how discrete gauge symmetries can protect the axion…
We study a class of gauge groups that can automatically yield a perturbatively exact Peccei-Quinn symmetry, and we outline a model in which the axion quality problem is solved at all operator dimensions. Gauge groups belonging to this class…
There exists a widely spread notion that gravitational effects can strongly violate global symmetries. It may lead to many important consequences. We will argue, in particular, that nonperturbative gravitational effects in the axion theory…
We discuss conditions that should be satisfied by axion models for solving the strong CP problem. It has been observed that Planck scale effects may render the axion models ineffective if there are gauge invariant operators of dimension…
We investigate what it takes for the axion to address the strong CP problem in the presence of explicit Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking effects besides the strong interaction. In cases where the PQ-Higgsing scalar field directly couples…