Related papers: The Axion is Going Dark
The cosmological scenario where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is broken after inflation is investigated. In this scenario, topological defects such as strings and domain walls produce a large number of axions, which contribute to the cold dark…
It is shown that gauge field configurations with higher topological charge modify the structure of the QCD vacuum, which is reflected in its dependence on the CP-violating topological phase $\theta$. To explore this, topological…
Axions as dark matter is an increasingly important subject in astrophysics and cosmology. Experimental and observational searches are mounting across the mass spectrum of axion-like particles, many of which require detailed knowledge of…
Consistent frameworks of quantum gravity often predict the existence of large numbers of ultralight pseudoscalar degrees of freedom, forming the phenomenological landscape of the String Axiverse. The complexity of the extra-dimensional…
Axions and other pseudoscalar fields comprise an interesting class of ultralight dark matter candidates, that may independently play a role in solving the strong $CP$ problem. In the presence of $CP$-violating sources, these pseudoscalar…
We revisit a set of dark sector models, motivated by anomalies observed in $B$ decays and the muon anomalous magnetic moment, in the light of a recently reported diphoton excess around 750$\,$GeV. Interpreting the excess as a scalar…
Theories of dark matter that support bound states are an intriguing possibility for the identity of the missing mass of the Universe. This article proposes a class of models of supersymmetric composite dark matter where the interactions…
We introduce and study a model designed to simultaneously shed light on the mysteries connected with Baryogenesis, Dark Matter and Dark Energy. The model describes a self-interacting complex axion field whose imaginary part, a pseudo-scalar…
We study axion effective field theories (EFTs), with a focus on axion couplings to massive chiral gauge fields. We investigate the EFT interactions that participate in processes with an axion and two gauge bosons, and we show that, when…
We study the cosmology of the dark sector consisting of (ultra) light scalars. Since the scalar mass is radiatively unstable, a special explanation is required to make the mass much smaller than the UV scale. There are two well-known…
A dark sector with non-abelian gauge symmetry provides a sound framework to justify stable dark matter (DM) candidates. We consider scalar fields charged under a $SU(N)$ gauge group, and show that the centre of $SU(N)$, the discrete…
We investigate the landscape of constraints on MeV-GeV scale, hidden U(1) forces with nonzero axial-vector couplings to Standard Model fermions. While the purely vector-coupled dark photon, which may arise from kinetic mixing, is a…
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…
In the framework of axion-gauge fields models, primordial gravitational wave perturbations could be generated during the inflationary epoch from not only the quantum fluctuation of gravitons but also the dynamics of hidden gauge fields…
We discuss the idea that the model-independent (MI) axion of string theory is the source of quintessential dark energy. The scenario is completed with a composite QCD axion from hidden sector squark condensation that could serve as dark…
The presence of a plethora of light spin 0 and spin 1 fields is motivated in a number of BSM scenarios, such as the axiverse. The study of the interactions of such light bosonic fields with the Standard Model has focused mostly on…
Any non-gravitational coupling between dark matter and dark energy modifies the cosmological dynamics. Interactions in the dark sector are considered to be relevant to address the coincidence problem. Moreover, in various models the…
Generating axion dark matter through the kinetic misalignment mechanism implies the generation of large asymmetries for Standard Model fermions in the early universe. Even if these asymmetries are washed out at later times, they can trigger…
We study anomaly mediation models with gauge mediation effects from messengers which have a general renormalizable mass matrix with a supersymmetry-breaking spurion. Our models lead to a rich structure of supersymmetry breaking terms in the…
Coupled dark matter-dark energy systems can suffer from non-adiabatic instabilities at early times and large scales. In these proceedings, we consider two parameterizations of the dark sector interaction. In the first one the…