Related papers: Naturally astrophobic QCD axion
The discovery of an axion-like particle above the QCD line would rule out Grand Unified Theories, including the perturbative heterotic string with the Standard Model embedded in a single $E_8$ factor or $SO(32)$. In this work we study a…
Preferred axion models are minimal realizations of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem while providing a dark matter candidate. These models invoke new heavy quarks that interact strongly with the Standard Model bringing them…
Flaton models of Peccei-Quinn symmetry have good particle physics motivation, and are likely to cause thermal inflation leading to a well-defined cosmology. They can solve the $\mu$ problem, and generate viable neutrino masses. Canonical…
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 present a comprehensive discussion of the phenomenology of flavourful axions, including both standard Peccei-Quinn (PQ) axions, associated with the solution to the strong $CP$ problem, and non-standard axion-like particles (ALPs). We…
In this paper, we investigate axion physics in 4D F-theory MSSM models. We derive the axion coupling term with QCD gauge fields and the axion potential from a top-down perspective, from both IIB superstring and the dual M-theory picture.…
A finite axion-nucleon coupling enables the production of axions in stellar environments via the thermal excitation and subsequent de-excitation of the $^{57}$Fe isotope. Given its low-lying excited state at 14.4 keV, $^{57}$Fe can be…
We study cosmological effects of explicit Peccei-Quinn breaking on the QCD axion dark matter. We find that the axion abundance decreases or increases significantly depending on the initial position, even for a tiny Peccei-Quinn breaking…
We examine the theoretical possibility for the heavy QCD axion to induce slow-roll inflation while solving the strong CP problem through the Peccei-Quinn mechanism. If the cancellation between contributions from a small-size instanton and…
We consider the constraints from Supernova 1987A on particles with small couplings to the Standard Model. We discuss a model with a fermion coupled to a dark photon, with various mass relations in the dark sector; millicharged particles;…
The QCD axion is a good dark matter candidate. The observed dark matter abundance can arise from misalignment or defect mechanisms, which generically require an axion decay constant $f_a \sim \mathcal{O}(10^{11})$ GeV (or higher). We…
A particular class of variant axion models with two higgs doublets and a singlet is studied. In these models the axion couples either to the $u$-quark or $t$-quark or both, but not to $b$, $c$, $s$, or $d$. When the axion couples to only…
The naturalness problem of PQ symmetry motivates study of the heavy QCD axion, with masses $m_a >$ 1 MeV generated at scales above the QCD scale, and low values of the PQ symmetry breaking scale, $f_a$. We compute the abundance of such…
A QCD axion with a decay constant below $ 10 ^{ 11} ~{\rm GeV} $ is a strongly-motivated extension to the Standard Model, though its relic abundance from the misalignment mechanism or decay of cosmic defects is insufficient to explain the…
We study the axion cooling of neutron stars within the Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-Zhitnitsky (DFSZ) model, which allows for tree level coupling of electrons to the axion {and locks the Peccei-Quinn charges of fermions via an angle parameter}.…
We derive the necessary conditions to build a class of invisible axion models with Flavor Changing Neutral Currents at tree-level controlled by the fermion mixing matrices and present an explicit model implementation. A horizontal…
The characteristic axion couplings could be generated via effective couplings between the Standard Model (SM) fermions to a pseudo-Goldstone from a high-scale $U(1)$ Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking. Assuming that the UV-induced…
The presence of axions introduces new diagrams at one-loop order to the two-photon decays of the neutral pion through axion-pion mixing. In this work, we calculate this correction, missing in all current calculations, in the framework of…
We present a model where the QCD axion is at the TeV scale and visible at a collider via its decays. Conformal dynamics and strong CP considerations account for the axion coupling strongly enough to the standard model to be produced as well…
The dark dimension scenario, which is motivated from Swampland principles and predicts a single micron scale extra dimension, suggests a consistent framework for the dark sector of the universe. We consider the implications of this scenario…