Related papers: String Theory and Grand Unification Suggest a Sub-…
Axions, encompassing both QCD axions and axion-like particles, can generate loop-induced quadratic couplings to electromagnetic field strength tensors, resulting in oscillatory shifts of the fine-structure constant. Near a Kerr black hole,…
The subjects of this thesis are the invisible axion and the more general family of axion-like particles. The invisible axion is a hypothetical elementary particle and a cold dark matter candidate. I present an improved computation of the…
The low energy effective action of string theory depends strongly on the process of compactification and the localization of fields in extra dimensions. Explicit string constructions towards the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM)…
The origin of `invisible' axion in four dimensional effective beyond-standard models from string compactification is discussed and its refined passover through the QCD phase transition is presented toward a reliable estimate of the current…
This paper revisits the problem of the string decay contribution to the axion cosmological energy density. We show that this contribution is proportional to the average relative increase when axion strings decay of a certain quantity…
We investigate a string-inspired axion extension of the standard model obtained from Type II superstrings using quiver method. In the first part, we discuss intersecting Type IIA D6-branes wrapping non trivial 3-cycles in the presence of…
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…
The majority of models of inflation in string theory predict an absence of measurable gravitational waves, r << 10^{-3}. The most promising proposals for making string theoretic models that yield measurable tensor fluctuations involve axion…
We study fuzzy axion dark matter in type IIB string theory, for axions descending from the Ramond-Ramond four-form in compactifications on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces. Such models can be tested by cosmological measurements if a…
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…
We study a dark energy model composed of a bare negative cosmological constant and a single ultra-light axion, motivated by the string axiverse. Assuming that intelligent observers arise and observe, as in our universe, the onset of…
We study the system of axion strings that forms in the early Universe if the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is restored after inflation. Using numerical simulations, we establish the existence of an asymptotic solution to which the system is…
Higher dimensional grand unified theories, with gauge symmetry breaking by orbifold compactification, possess SU(5) breaking at fixed points, and do not automatically lead to tree-level gauge coupling unification. A new framework is…
We revisit the joint constraints in the mixed hot dark matter scenario in which both thermally produced QCD axions and relic neutrinos are present. Upon recomputing the cosmological axion abundance via recent advances in the literature, we…
We argue that sufficiently complex grand unified theories involving extra strong intractions that confine at very short distances, may lead to a heavy axion solution of the CP problem of QCD. This axion may have a mass within accessible…
The interpretation of the apparent unification of gauge couplings within supersymmetric theories depends on uncertainties induced through heavy particle thresholds. While in standard grand unified theories these effects can be estimated…
We derive constraints facing models of axion inflation based on decay constant alignment from a string-theoretic and quantum gravitational perspective. In particular, we investigate the prospects for alignment and `anti-alignment' of $C_4$…
The QCD axion remains experimentally viable in the mass range of O(10 MeV) if (i) it couples predominantly to the first generation of SM fermions; (ii) it decays to $e^+ e^-$ with a short lifetime $\tau_a\lesssim 10^{-13}\,$s; and (iii) it…
The recently reported non-zero isotropic birefringence angle in Planck 2018 polarization data provides a tantalizing hint for new physics of axions. In this paper, we explain this by a string theory motivated axion with a monodromy…
The idea of grand unification in a minimal supersymmetric SU(5)xSU(5) framework is revisited. It is shown that the unification of gauge couplings into a unique coupling constant can be achieved at a high-energy scale compatible with proton…