Related papers: More Axion Stars from Strings
An axion-like-particle (ALP) in the post-inflationary scenario with domain wall number $N>1$ can be dark matter if the residual $\mathbb{Z}_N$ symmetry has a small explicit breaking. Although we cannot determine the full dynamics of the…
We show that Dark Matter consisting of bosons of mass of about 1eV or less has critical temperature exceeding the temperature of the universe at all times, and hence would have formed a Bose-Einstein condensate at very early epochs. We also…
If there are a plethora of axions in nature, they may have a complicated potential and create an axion landscape. We study a possibility that one of the axions is so light that it is cosmologically stable, explaining the observed dark…
We study the small scale structure of axion dark matter in the post-inflationary scenario, which predicts the formation of low-mass, high-density clumps of gravitationally bound axions called axion miniclusters. To this end, we follow…
In theories of axion dark matter with large axion decay constant, temperature variations in the CMB are extremely sensitive to perturbations in the initial axion field, allowing one to place a lower bound on the total amount of inflation.…
An analytic calculation is given for binary star evaporation under the tidal perturbation from randomly distributed, spatially extended dark objects. In particular, the Milky Way's wide binary star population is susceptible to such…
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 non-negligible fraction of the QCD axion dark matter may form gravitationally bound Bose Einstein condensates, which are commonly known as axion stars or axion clumps. Such astrophysical objects have been recently proposed as the cause…
We show how the properties of the QCD axion change in systems at finite baryonic density, such as neutron stars. At nuclear saturation densities, where corrections can be reliably computed, we find a mild reduction of the axion mass and up…
String scenarios generically predict that we live in a so called axiverse: the Universe with about a hundred of light axion species which are decoupled from the Standard Model particles. However, the axions can couple to the inflaton which…
Light bosonic (axion-like) dark matter may form Bose stars - clumps of nonrelativistic Bose-Einstein condensate supported by self-gravity. We study rotating Bose stars composed of condensed particles with nonzero angular momentum $l$. We…
Ultralight scalar dark matter has been proposed to constitute a component of dark matter, though the minimal scenarios have increasingly become constrained. In this work, we analyze scenarios where the dark matter consists of more than one…
We evaluate the efficiency of axion production from spatially random initial conditions in the axion field, so a network of axionic strings is present. For the first time, we perform numerical simulations which fully account for the large…
The axion is arguably one of the best motivated candidates for dark matter. For a decay constant greater than about 10^9 GeV, axions are dominantly produced non-thermally in the early universe and hence are "cold", their velocity dispersion…
If the cosmological dark matter is primarily in the form of an elementary particle which has cross section and mass for self-interaction having a ratio similar to that of ordinary nuclear matter, then seed black holes (formed in stellar…
We consider the scenario in which the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking is followed by a period of inflation. A particularly interesting case is that the string-domain wall network produced by the symmetry breaking enters the horizon after the…
We provide a detailed analysis of how bosonic dark matter "condensates" interact with compact stars, extending significantly the results of a recent Letter. We focus on bosonic fields with mass $m_B$, such as axions, axion-like candidates…
Axions arise in many theoretical extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics, in particular the "string axiverse". If the axion masses, $m_a$, and (effective) decay constants, $f_a$, lie in specific ranges, then axions contribute…
Any new vector boson with non-zero mass (a `dark photon' or `Proca boson') that is present during inflation is automatically produced at this time from vacuum fluctuations and can comprise all or a substantial fraction of the observed dark…
The hypothesis of an `invisible' axion was made by Misha Shifman and others, approximately thirty years ago. It has turned out to be an unusually fruitful idea, crossing boundaries between particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. An…