Related papers: Testing the Heterotic String with the Axion-Photon…
We study the evolution of the gauge coupling constants in string unification schemes in which the light spectrum below the compactification scale is exactly that of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. In the absence of string…
Standard axion electrodynamics has two closely related features. First, the coupling of a massless axion field to photons is quantized, in units proportional to the electric gauge coupling squared. Second, the equations of motion tell us…
We present a QCD axion model where the couplings of the axion to nucleons, electrons, and muons are naturally suppressed because of the appropriate choice of the Peccei-Quinn charges of the Standard Model fermions. We reexamine…
Axions are pseudo-scalar particles, those arise because of breaking of Peccei Queen (PQ) symmetry. Axions have a tree level coupling to two photons. As a consequence there exists a tree level coupling of axion to photon in a magnetic field.…
We investigate the string solutions and cosmological implications of the gauge ${\rm U(1)_Z}\,\times$ global ${\rm U(1)_{PQ}}$ model. With two hierarchical symmetry-breaking scales, the model exhibits three distinct string solutions: a…
I argue that the ten dimensional non--supersymmetric tachyonic superstrings may serve as good starting points for the construction of viable phenomenological vacua. Thus, enlarging the space of possible solutions that may address some of…
We show that axion phenomenology may be significantly different than conventionally assumed in theories which exhibit late phase transitions (below the QCD scale). In such theories one can find multiple pseudoscalars with axion-like…
We propose a supergravity model that contains elements recently shown to arise in the strongly-coupled limit of the $E_8\times E_8$ heterotic string (M-theory), including a no-scale--like K\"ahler potential, the identification of the string…
We report on an interesting realization of the QCD axion, with mass in the range $\mathcal{O}(10)$ MeV. It has previously been shown that although this scenario is stringently constrained from multiple sources, the model remains viable for…
We study axion-photon couplings in compactifications of type IIB string theory. We find that these couplings are systematically suppressed compared to the inverse axion periodicity, as a result of two effects. First, couplings to the QED…
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…
This is the text of a talk given at the Inaugural Conference of the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Seoul, Korea, June 9, 1996. If nature is described by string theory, and if the compactification radius is large (as suggested…
Extensions of the Standard Model with extra neutral currents due to additional anomalous abelian gauge factors are considered. We summarize the main features of the effective action associated to these theories. They are characterized by an…
Axions and other light particles appear ubiquitously in physics beyond the Standard Model, with a variety of possible couplings to ordinary matter. Cosmology offers a unique probe of these particles as they can thermalize in the hot…
If nature is described by string theory, and if the compactification radius is large (as suggested by the unification of couplings), then the theory is in a regime best described by the low energy limit of $M$-theory. We discuss some…
Pseudoscalar particles like axion-like particles generically couple to two photons, giving rise to the possibility of oscillations with photons in an external magnetic field. These oscillations could lead to measurable imprints in the…
It has recently been suggested that the presence of a plenitude of light axions, an Axiverse, is evidence for the extra dimensions of string theory. We discuss the observational consequences of these axions on astrophysical black holes…
Inspired by recent studies of high-scale decay constant or flavorful QCD axions, we review and clarify their existence in effective string models with anomalous $U(1)$ gauge groups. We find that such models, when coupled to charged scalars…
While axions seem ubiquitous in critical string theories, whether they might survive in any string theoretic description of nature is a difficult question. With some mild assumptions, one can frame the issues in the case that there is an…
We study the cosmological evolution of the QCD axion coupled to hidden photons. For a moderately strong coupling, the motion of the axion field leads to an explosive production of hidden photons by tachyonic instability. We use lattice…