Related papers: The dilaton as a candidate for dark matter
The Kim-Nilles mechanism relates the $\mu$ term with the axion scale $f_a$, leading to the axino-Higgsino-Higgs Yukawa coupling of order $\mu/f_a$. This can bring a dangerous thermal production of axinos. If the axino is stable, its mass…
We consider a simple class of models in which the dark matter, X, is coupled to a new gauge boson, phi, with a relatively low mass (m_phi \sim 100 MeV-3 GeV). Neither the dark matter nor the new gauge boson have tree-level couplings to the…
We evaluate the efficiency of axion production from spatially random initial conditions in the axion field, so a network of axionic strings is present. For the first time, we perform numerical simulations which fully account for the large…
We argue that string theory has all the ingredients to provide us with candidates for the cold dark matter and explain the current acceleration of our Universe. In any generic string compactification the dilaton plays an important role as…
We explore a KSVZ-like extension of the Standard Model with a Dirac fermion and three right-handed neutrinos. PQ symmetry allows the Dirac mass for neutrinos and prevents the Majorana mass. A $\mathcal{Z}_2$ symmetry guarantees the…
Motivated by the galactic positron excess seen by PAMELA and ATIC/PPB-BETS, we propose that dark matter is a TeV-scale particle that annihilates into a pseudoscalar "axion." The positron excess and the absence of an anti-proton or gamma ray…
In this paper, we discuss dark matter candidates in a visible heavy QCD axion model. There, a mirror copied sector of the Standard Model with mass scales larger than the Standard Model is introduced. By larger mass scales of the mirrored…
We propose simple scenarios where lepton flavor-violating couplings generate the observed dark matter abundance through freeze-in of an axion-like particle with mass in the few keV range. Compared to flavor-diagonal freeze-in, this…
We study for what specific values of the theoretical parameters the axion can form the totality of cold dark matter. We examine the allowed axion parameter region in the light of recent data collected by the WMAP5 mission plus baryon…
Axions have for some time been considered a plausible candidate for dark matter. They can be produced through misalignment, but it has been argued that when inflation occurs before a Peccei-Quinn transition, appreciable production can…
Axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) are a prominent dark matter candidate, drawing motivation in part from the axiverse of string theory. Axion-like particles can also arise as composite degrees of freedom of a dark sector, for example,…
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…
Dark matter constitutes about $23\%$ of the total energy density of the universe but its properties are still little known besides that it should be composed by cold and weakly interacting particles. Many beyond standard model theories can…
Axions arise in many theoretical extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics, in particular the "string axiverse". If the axion masses, $m_a$, and (effective) decay constants, $f_a$, lie in specific ranges, then axions contribute…
The Standard Model Lagrangian has an approximate scale symmetry in the high-energy limit. This observation can be included in the fundamental principle of the ultimate theory of Nature as the requirement of the exact quantum scale…
I present an introduction and topical review on axions as a dark matter candidate. Emphasis is placed on issues surrounding the cosmology of axion dark matter that are relevant for present-day searches, including: early-Universe production…
Axion-like-particles are a well-motivated extension of the Standard Model that can mediate interactions between the dark matter and ordinary matter. Here we consider an axion portal between the two sectors, where the axion couples to dark…
Axions and axion-like particles are compelling candidates for the missing dark matter of the universe. As they undergo gravitational collapse, they can form compact objects such as axion stars or even black holes. In this paper, we study…
The QCD axion was originally predicted as a dynamical solution to the strong CP problem. Axion like particles (ALPs) are also a generic prediction of many high energy physics models including string theory. Theoretical models for axions are…
The environment-dependent dilaton field is a well-motivated candidate for dark energy and naturally arises in the strong coupling limit of string theory. In this article, we present the very first experimental constraints on the parameters…