Related papers: QCD Axion Strings or Seeds?
The post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking scenario provides a unique opportunity to pinpoint the QCD axion dark matter mass, which is a crucial input for laboratory experiments that are designed for probing specific mass…
It has been recently argued that Higgsing of theories with $U(1)^n$ gauge interactions consistent with the Weak Gravity Conjecture (WGC) may lead to effective field theories parametrically violating WGC constraints. The minimal examples…
We consider open strings in an external constant magnetic field $H$. For an (infinite) sequence of critical values of $H$ an increasing number of (highest spin component) states lying on the first Regge trajectory becomes tachyonic. In the…
To illuminate how electroweak symmetry breaking shapes the physical world, we investigate toy models in which no Higgs fields or other constructs are introduced to induce spontaneous symmetry breaking. Two models incorporate the standard…
Motivated by the M-theory compactification physics, we study a type IIA superstring quiver model with an open string axion field associated with the U(1)_{PQ} Peccei-Quinn global symmetry using D6-brane physics. This realization extends the…
We present a simple supersymmetric axion model that can naturally explain the origin of the Higgs mu and Bmu terms in gauge mediation while solving the strong CP problem. To stabilize the Peccei-Quinn scale, we consider mixing between the…
We consider the class of effective supergravity theories from the weakly coupled heterotic string in which local supersymmetry is broken by gaugino condensation in a hidden sector, with dilaton stabilization achieved through corrections to…
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…
The QCD axion addresses the strong CP problem and dark matter via the misalignment mechanism, typically requiring a decay constant $f_a\sim \mathcal{O}(10^{12}$ GeV), unless the initial misalignment angle ($\theta_i$) is fine-tuned. This…
We study the phenomenology of models of electroweak symmetry breaking where the Higgs potential is dominated by a positive quadratic term destabilized by a tadpole arising from the coupling to an "auxiliary" Higgs sector. The auxiliary…
The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion may solve the strong CP problem and explain the dark matter (DM) abundance of our Universe. The axion was originally proposed to arise as the pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson of global $\mathrm{U}(1)_{\rm…
Probing the Higgs potential and new physics behind the electroweak symmetry breaking is one of the most important issues of particle physics. In particular, nature of electroweak phase transition is essential for understanding physics at…
Within the (dual) Abelian Higgs model, confining strings do not disappear at small distances but rather become short strings. In compact 3D electrodynamics, as we argue here, the confining strings are also manifested at small distances in…
A brief discussion is presented assessing the achievements and challenges of string phenomenology: the subfield dedicated to study the potential for string theory to make contact with particle physics and cosmology. Building from the well…
Axions arising as modes of higher-dimensional gauge fields are known to offer a compelling solution to the axion quality problem and to naturally arise in string theory. In this context, it is interesting to ask how we would interpret an…
We study the collider phenomenology of the electroweak phase transition and electroweak baryogenesis in the framework of the effective field theory. Our study shows that the effective theory using the dimension-6 operators can enforce…
We study the electroweak phase transition in the minimal extension of the Standard Model: an extra complex singlet with zero vacuum expectation value. The first-order phase transition is strengthened by the cubic term triggered in the…
In supersymmetric theories with a strong conformal sector, soft supersymmetry breaking at the TeV scale naturally gives rise to confinement and chiral symmetry breaking at the same scale. We investigate models where such a sector…
Several string theories related to QCD in two dimensions are studied. For each of these theories the large $N$ free energy on a (target) sphere of area $A$ is calculated. By considering theories with different subsets of the geometrical…
Axion and axion-like particle models are typically affected by a strong fine-tuning problem in conceiving the electroweak and the Peccei-Quinn breaking scales. Within the context of the Minimal Linear {\sigma} Model, axion-like particle…