Related papers: Induced Domain Walls of QCD Axion, and Gravitation…
QCD was shown to have a nontrivial vacuum structure due to the topology of the theta = theta+2*pi*n parameter. As a result of this nontrivial topology, in the large N_c limit, quasi-stable QCD domain walls appear, characterized by a…
Axion models have two serious cosmological problems, domain wall and isocurvature perturbation problems. In order to solve these problems we investigate the Linde's model in which the field value of the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) scalar is large…
The QCD axion needs not be an exact pseudoscalar for solving the strong CP problem. Its imperfectness can play a profound role cosmologically. We propose effective operators, where the Peccei-Quinn field linearly couples to Standard Model…
The axion causes two serious cosmological problems, domain wall and isocurvature perturbation problems. Linde pointed that the isocurvature perturbations are suppressed when the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) scalar field takes a large value $\sim…
We analyze the spectrum of axions radiated from collapse of domain walls, which have received less attention in the literature. The evolution of topological defects related to the axion models is investigated by performing field-theoretic…
The post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn symmetry-breaking scenario provides a rich theoretical framework to study axion dark matter production through the dynamics oftopological defects. Accurate predictions for the axion abundance require a…
It is difficult to construct a post-inflation QCD axion model that solves the axion quality problem (and hence the Strong CP problem) without introducing a cosmological disaster. In a post-inflation axion model, the axion field value is…
We present a new mechanism to deplete the energy density of the QCD axion, making decay constants as high as $f_a \simeq 10^{17}\,\rm{GeV}$ viable for generic initial conditions. In our setup, the axion couples to a massless dark photon…
It is widely believed that string theory easily allows for a QCD axion in the cosmologically favoured mass range. The required small decay constant, $f_a\ll M_P$, can be implemented by using a large compactification volume. This points to…
We propose a novel mechanism for the formation of primordial black holes by demonstrating that the delayed production of isocurvature perturbations resulting from Poisson fluctuations within the domain wall network can lead to collapse and…
We propose a new scenario of baryogenesis, in which annihilation of axion domain walls generates a sizable baryon asymmetry. Successful baryogenesis is possible for a wide range of the axion mass and decay constant, $m \simeq 10^8 -10^{13}$…
Ignorance of the initial condition for the axion dynamics in the early Universe has led us to consider an $O(1)$ valued initial amplitude, and that prefers the decay constant, $F_a$, of the QCD axion to be an intermediate scale such as…
A recent study has shown that domain walls with inflationary initial fluctuations exhibit remarkable stability against population bias due to long-range correlations, challenging the claims of prior research. In this paper, we study the…
We discuss a novel cold dark matter candidate which is formed from the ordinary quarks during the QCD phase transition when the axion domain wall undergoes an unchecked collapse due to the tension in the wall. If a large number of quarks is…
Domain walls can form after breakdown of a discrete symmetry induced by first-order phase transition, we study the heavy dark matter produced around the temperature of the phase transition that yields the breakdown of a $\mathbb{Z}_{3}$…
It is shown that late-time decay of domain walls can dilute unwanted relics such as moduli, if the universe was dominated by frustrated domain walls with tension $\sigma = (1 - 100 TeV)^3$. Since energy density of the frustrated domain…
We discuss a novel mechanism for generating dark matter from a fast-rolling scalar field, relevant for both inflation and rotating axion models, and apply it specifically to the (QCD) axion. Dark matter comes from scalar field fluctuations…
The QCD axion is one of the best motivated dark matter candidates. The misalignment mechanism is well known to produce an abundance of the QCD axion consistent with dark matter for an axion decay constant of order $10^{12}$ GeV. For a…
Cosmological domain walls appear in many well-motivated extensions to the standard model of particle physics. If produced, they quickly enter into a self-similar scaling regime, where they are capable of efficiently sourcing a stochastic…
We study the formation and evolution of domain walls with initial inflationary fluctuations by numerical lattice calculations that, for the first time, correctly take into account correlations on superhorizon scales. We find that, contrary…