Related papers: Stacking the Deck: Gambling on a Light QCD Axion
We show that relaxion, that addresses the hierarchy problem, can account for the observed dark matter (DM) relic density. The setup is similar to the case of axion DM models topped with a dynamical misalignment mechanism. After the…
We study collider implications of variant axion models which naturally avoid the cosmological domain wall problem. We find that in such models the branching ratio of $h \to \gamma\gamma$ can be enhanced by a factor of 5 up to 30 as compared…
We present some phenomenology of the Higgs sector of the Minimal $B-L$ U(1) Extension of the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider. In this model, the existence of an extra gauge boson ($Z'$) and an extra scalar (heavy Higgs) are…
Asymmetric reheating is a generic requirement for models of dark sectors with light species, but its implementation is usually in tension with unique phenomenologies otherwise possible in compelling theories containing dark copies of the…
The possible existence of a new gauge boson U, light and very weakly coupled, allows for Light Dark Matter particles, which could also be at the origin of the 511 keV line from the galactic bulge. Independently of dark matter, and taking…
Hidden axions may be coupled to the standard model particles through a kinetic or mass mixing with QCD axion. We study a scenario in which a hidden axion constitutes a part of or the whole of dark matter and decays into photons through the…
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 discovery of a light Higgs boson means that whatever form new physics takes, it should keep stable the Higgs mass. Besides the well-known solutions to the naturalness problem (Supersymmetry, Conformal symmetry, Compositeness, etc),…
Non-supersymmetric Grand Unified $SO(10)\times U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ models have all the ingredients to solve several fundamental problems of particle physics and cosmology -- neutrino masses and mixing, baryogenesis, the non-observation of strong…
We construct a little Higgs model with the most minimal extension of the standard model gauge group by an extra U(1) gauge symmetry. For specific charge assignments of scalars, an approximate U(3) global symmetry appears in the…
The introduction of non-orthogonal electric and magnetic fields in the QCD vacuum enhances the weight of topological sectors with a nonzero topological charge. For weak fields, there is a linear response for the expectation value of the…
We investigate the possibility that the Peccei-Quinn phase transition occurs at a temperature far below the symmetry breaking scale. Low phase transition temperatures are typical in supersymmetric theories, where symmetry breaking fields…
As a simple model for dark matter, we propose a QCD-like theory based on $\rm{SU}(2)$ gauge theory with one flavor of dark quark. The model is confining at low energy and we use lattice simulations to investigate the properties of the…
A light vector boson, Z_d, associated with a "dark sector" U(1)_d gauge group has been introduced to explain certain astrophysical observations as well as low energy laboratory anomalies. In such models, the Higgs boson may decay into…
Many models of dark matter QCD axion requires inflation at a scale $H_{\text{inf}} \lesssim 10^{6}$~GeV and hence does not allow for a detectable tensor mode fluctuation. This is because the domain wall problem forces the Peccei--Quinn…
Axions are light pseudoscalar bosons postulated with many motivations in particle physics and cosmology, including the strong CP problem and the dark matter in our Universe. In this lecture notes, we discuss a variety of known ultraviolet…
We present a comprehensive phenomenological analysis of the Radion in the Randall-Sundrum model, focusing on its production via light-by-light scattering in ultra-peripheral proton-proton collisions at the LHC. We provide a consistent…
The light pseudoscalar particle, dubbed the axion, borne out of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem in QCD remains elusive. One avenue of inferring its existence is through its coupling to electromagnetic radiation. So far,…
Cosmological relaxation of the electroweak scale via Higgs-axion interplay, named as relaxion mechanism, provides a dynamical solution to the Higgs mass hierarchy. In the original proposal by Graham, Kaplan and Rajendran, the relaxion…
We study the possibility that the axion Peccei-Quinn symmetry is spontaneously broken after the beginning of inflation. This scenario interpolates between pre-inflationary and post-inflationary axion cosmology with significant…