Related papers: More axions from diluted domain walls
We show that the initial misalignment angle of the QCD axion (or axion-like particles) can be set very close to $\pi$, if the QCD axion has a mixing with another heavy axion which induces the phase shift $\approx \pi$ after inflation. In…
The axion is one of the best motivated candidates for particle dark matter. We study and update the constraints imposed by the recent CMB and LSS experiments on the mass of axions produced by the misalignment mechanism, as a function of…
Axions are produced during a period of dilaton-driven inflation by amplification of quantum fluctuations. We show that for some range of string cosmology parameters and some range of axion masses, primordial axions may constitute a large…
In recent work we showed that the relic dark matter abundance of QCD axions can be altered when the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field is coupled to very light scalar/s, rendering the effective axion mass dynamical in the early universe. In this work…
We study the Witten effect of hidden monopoles on the QCD axion dynamics, and show that its abundance as well as isocurvature perturbations can be significantly suppressed if there is a sufficient amount of hidden monopoles. When the hidden…
We show that the smooth hybrid inflation is naturally realized in a framework of supersymmetric axion model. Identifying the Peccei-Quinn scalar fields as a part of the infaton sector, successful inflation takes place reproducing the…
The QCD axion solving the strong CP problem may originate from antisymmetric tensor gauge fields in compactified string theory, with a decay constant around the GUT scale. Such possibility appears to be ruled out now by the detection of…
We have analyzed a $U(1)$ model which is broken explicitly to a $Z_2$ model. The model results in generating two stable domain walls, in contrast with the more common $N_{DW}=1$ version which is prevalently used to explain axion…
We study topological defects in multi-axion models arising from multiple Peccei-Quinn (PQ) scalars. Using a simplified two-axion system, we reveal fundamental differences in the evolution of these defects compared to single-axion scenarios.…
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 Peccei-Quinn symmetry is an automatic symmetry of the 3-3-1 gauge models which, consequently are not plagued with the strong CP problem. Nevertheless, the axion that emerges from spontaneous breaking of Peccei-Quinn symmetry cannot be…
The inflationary diffusion of (pseudo-)scalar fields with discrete symmetries can seed the formation of a gas of closed domain walls after inflation, when the distance between degenerate minima in field space is not too far from the…
We discuss the appearance at the QCD phase transition, and the subsequent decay, of axion walls bounded by strings in N=1 axion models. We argue on intuitive grounds that the main decay mechanism is into barely relativistic axions. We…
Recently it has been proposed that dark matter axions from the galactic halo can produce a small Shapiro step-like signal in Josephson junctions whose Josephson frequency resonates with the axion mass [C. Beck, PRL 111, 231801 (2013)]. Here…
Chain Inflation is an alternative to slow roll inflation in which the universe undergoes a series of transitions between different vacua. The density perturbations (studied in this paper) are seeded by the probabilistic nature of tunneling…
We show how successful supersymmetric hybrid inflation is realized in realistic models where the resolution of the minimal supersymmetric standard model mu problem is intimately linked with axion physics. The scalar fields that accompany…
We show that the upper bound of the classical QCD axion window can be significantly relaxed for low-scale inflation. If the Gibbons-Hawking temperature during inflation is lower than the QCD scale, the initial QCD axion misalignment angle…
In this paper, we propose a bubble filtering-out mechanism for an asymmetric dark matter scenario during the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) phase transition. Based on a QCD axion model, extended by extra chiral neutrinos, we show that the PQ phase…
We explore the inflationary dynamics leading to formation of closed domain walls in course of evolution of an axion like particle (ALP) field whose Peccei-Quinn-like phase transition occurred well before inflationary epoch. Evolving after…
The QCD axion is expected to form dense structures known as axion miniclusters if the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is broken after inflation. Miniclusters that have survived until today will interact with neutron stars (NSs) in the Milky Way to…