Related papers: Dark Radiation in Spectator Axion-Gauge Models
$SU(2)$ gauge fields can generate large gravitational waves during inflation, if they are coupled to an axion which can be either the inflaton or a spectator field. The shape of the produced tensor power spectrum $\mathcal{P}_h$ depends on…
Inspired by the chromo-natural inflation model of Adshead&Wyman, we reshape its scalar content to relax the tension with current observational bounds. Besides an inflaton, the setup includes a spectator sector in which an axion and SU(2)…
We study detection prospects of a gravitational-wave background (GWB) sourced by SU(2) gauge fields considering all possible observational constraints. More precisely, we consider bounds set by cosmic microwave background measurements,…
The motion of a pseudo-scalar field $X$ during inflation naturally induces a significant amplification of the gauge fields to which it is coupled. The amplified gauge fields can source characteristic scalar and tensor primordial…
We consider inflationary models with multiple spectator axions coupled to dark gauge sectors via Chern-Simons (CS) terms. The energy injection into Abelian gauge fields from the axions engenders a multi-peak profile for scalar and tensor…
An important prediction of inflation is the production of a primordial stochastic gravitational wave background. Observing this background is challenging due to the weakness of the signal and the simultaneous presence of an astrophysical…
Recent cosmological observations indicate the existence of extra light species, i.e., dark radiation. In this paper we show that signatures of the dark radiation are imprinted in the spectrum of inflationary gravitational waves. If the dark…
We show that an inflation model in which a spectator axion field is coupled to an SU(2) gauge field produces a large three-point function (bispectrum) of primordial gravitational waves, $B_{h}$, on the scales relevant to the cosmic…
We study the process of primordial black hole (PBH) formation at the beginning of radiation era for the cosmological scenario in which the inflaton is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson (axion) and there is a coupling of the inflaton with some…
If a light axion is present during inflation and becomes part of dark matter afterwards, its quantum fluctuations contribute to dark matter isocurvature. In this article, we introduce a whole new suite of cosmological observables for axion…
The reheating phase after inflation is one of the least observationally constrained epochs in the evolution of the Universe. The forthcoming gravitational wave observatories will enable us to constrain at least some of the non-standard…
Rotations of an axion field in field space provide a natural origin for an era of kination domination, where the energy density is dominated by the kinetic term of the axion field, preceded by an early era of matter domination. Remarkably,…
Recent study [1] has suggested that warm inflation may be realized with a minimal extension of the Standard Model by a single scalar inflaton field with an axion-like coupling to gluons. Motivated by this framework, we investigate the…
Motivated by some of the recent swampland conjectures, we study a model of dark energy, in which a quintessence axion slowly rolls in a steep potential due to its interactions with a U(1) or an SU(2) gauge field. The gauge fields produced…
Models of axion inflation are particularly interesting since they provide a natural justification for the flatness of the potential over a super-Planckian distance, namely the approximate shift-symmetry of the inflaton. In addition, most of…
Axions in the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism provide a promising solution to the strong CP problem in the standard model of particle physics. Coherently generated PQ scalar fields could dominate the energy density in the early Universe and…
We study the prospects of detection at terrestrial and space interferometers, as well as at pulsar timing array experiments, of a stochastic gravitational wave background which can be produced in models of axion inflation. This potential…
Axions play a central role in many realizations of large field models of inflation and in recent alternative mechanisms for generating primordial tensor modes in small field models. If these axions couple to gauge fields, the coupling…
Axion inflation is a well-motivated model of cosmic inflation with a rich phenomenology. The abundant production of gauge fields during axion inflation notably sources a stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) background signal, which nourishes…
An axion rotating in field space can produce dark photons in the early universe via tachyonic instability. This explosive particle production creates a background of stochastic gravitational waves that may be visible at pulsar timing arrays…