Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « QCD axion »

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 getting vacuum expectation values, always have one light axion, whose mass can only come from nonperturbative effects. If the main nonperturbative effect is from QCD, then it becomes a Peccei–Quinn axion candidate for solving the strong CP problem. We then study simple models with universal Green–Schwarz mechanism and only one charged scalar field: in the minimal gaugino condensation case the axion mass is tied to the supersymmetry breaking scale and cannot be light enough, but slightly refined models maintain a massless axion all the way down to the QCD scale. Both kinds of models can be extended to yield intermediate scale axion decay constants. Finally, we gauge flavorful axion models under an anomalous U(1) and discuss the axion couplings which arise.

Abstract If primordial black holes (PBHs) had come to dominate the energy density of the early Universe when oscillations in the axion field began, we show that the relic abundance and expected mass range of the QCD axion would be greatly modified. Since the QCD axion is a potential candidate for dark matter (DM), we refer to it as the DM axion. We predominantly explore PBHs in the mass range (106 - 5× 108)g. We investigate the relation between the relic abundance of DM axions and the parameter space of PBHs. We numerically solve the set of Boltzmann equations, that governs the cosmological evolution during both radiation and PBH-dominated epochs, providing the bulk energy content of the early Universe. We further solve the equation of motion of the DM axion field to obtain its present abundance. Alongside non-relativistic production mechanisms, light QCD axions are generated from evaporating PBHs through the Hawking mechanism and could make up a fraction of the dark radiation (DR). If the QCD axion is ever discovered, it will give us insight into the early Universe and probe into the physics of the PBH-dominated era. We estimate the bounds on the model from DR axions produced via PBH evaporation and thermal decoupling, and we account for isocurvature bounds for the period of inflation where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is broken. We assess the results obtained against the available CMB data and we comment on the forecasts from gravitational wave searches. We briefly state the consequences of PBH accretion and the uncertainties this may further add to cosmology and astroparticle physics modeling.

QCD axions are at the crossroads of QCD topology and Dark Matter searches. We present here the current status of topological studies on the lattice, and their implication on axion physics. We outline the specific challenges posed by lattice topology, the different proposals for handling them, the observable effects of topology on the QCD spectrum and its interrelation with chiral and axial symmetries. We review the transition to the quark–gluon plasma, the fate of topology at the transition, and the approach to the high temperature limit. We discuss the extrapolations needed to reach the regime of cosmological relevance, and the resulting constraints on the QCD axion.

In the late 20th century, cosmology became a precision science. Now, at the beginning of the next century, the parameters describing how our universe evolved from the Big Bang are generally known to a few percent. One key parameter is the total mass density of the universe. Normal matter constitutes only a small fraction of the total mass density. Observations suggest this additional mass, the dark matter, is cold (that is, moving nonrelativistically in the early universe) and interacts feebly if at all with normal matter and radiation. There’s no known such elementary particle, so the strong presumption is the dark matter consists of particle relics of a new kind left over from the Big Bang. One of the most important questions in science is the nature of this dark matter. One attractive particle dark-matter candidate is the axion. The axion is a hypothetical elementary particle arising in a simple and elegant extension to the standard model of particle physics that nulls otherwise observable CP-violating effects (where CP is the product of charge reversal C and parity inversion P) in quantum chromo dynamics (QCD). A light axion of mass 10−(6–3) eV (the invisible axion) would couple extraordinarily weakly to normal matter and radiation and would therefore be extremely difficult to detect in the laboratory. However, such an axion is a compelling dark-matter candidate and is therefore a target of a number of searches. Compared with other particle dark-matter candidates, the plausible range of axion dark-matter couplings and masses is narrowly constrained. This focused search range allows for definitive searches, where a nonobservation would seriously impugn the dark-matter QCD-axion hypothesis. Axion searches use a wide range of technologies, and the experiment sensitivities are now reaching likely dark-matter axion couplings and masses. This article is a selective overview of the current generation of sensitive axion searches. Not all techniques and experiments are discussed, but I hope to give a sense of the current experimental landscape of the search for dark-matter axions.

The axion field, the angular direction of the complex scalar field associated with the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the Peccei–Quinn (PQ) symmetry, could have originated with initial non-zero velocity. The presence of a non-zero angular velocity resulting from additional terms in the potential that explicitly break the PQ symmetry has important phenomenological consequences such as a modification of the axion mass with respect to the conventional PQ framework or an explanation for the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry. We elaborate further on the consequences of the “kinetic misalignment” mechanism, assuming that axions form the entirety of the dark matter abundance. The kinetic misalignment mechanism possesses a weak limit in which the axion field starts to oscillate at the same temperature as in the conventional PQ framework, and a strong limit corresponding to large initial velocities which effectively delay the onset of oscillations. Following a UV-agnostic approach, we show how this scenario impacts the formation of axion miniclusters, and we sketch the details of these substructures along with potential detecting signatures.

First I will review the QCD theta problem and the Peccei-Quinn solution, with its new particle, the axion. I will review the possibility of the axion as dark matter. If PQ symmetry was restored at some point in the hot early Universe, it should be possible to make a definite prediction for the axion mass if it constitutes the Dark Matter. I will describe progress on one issue needed to make this prediction – the dynamics of axionic string-wall networks and how they produce axions. Then I will discuss the sensitivity of the calculation to the high temperature QCD topological susceptibility. My emphasis is on what temperature range is important, and what level of precision is needed.

The dark matter particle can be a QCD axion or axion-like particle. A locally over-densed distribution of axions can condense into a bound Bose–Einstein condensate called an axion star, which can be bound by self-gravity or bound by self-interactions. It is possible that a significant fraction of the dark matter axion is in the form of axion stars. This would make some efforts searching for the axion as the dark matter particle more challenging, but at the same time it would also open up new possibilities. Some of the properties of axion stars, including their emission rates and their interactions with other astrophysical objects, are not yet completely understood.

Abstract 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 improve the state-of-the-art analyses and provide updated bounds on axion and neutrino masses. By avoiding approximate methods, such as the instantaneous decoupling approximation, and limitations due to the limited validity of the perturbative approach in QCD that forced to artificially divide the constraints from the axion-pion and the axion-gluon production channels, we find robust and self-consistent limits. We investigate the two most popular axion frameworks: KSVZ and DFSZ. From Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) light element abundances data we find for the KSVZ axion ΔN eff < 0.31 and an axion mass bound ma < 0.53 eV (i.e., a bound on the axion decay constant fa > 1.07 × 107 GeV) both at 95% CL. These BBN bounds are improved to Δ N eff < 0.14 and ma < 0.16 eV (fa > 3.56 × 107 GeV) if a prior on the baryon energy density from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data is assumed. When instead considering cosmological observations from the CMB temperature, polarization and lensing from the Planck satellite combined with large scale structure data we find Δ N eff < 0.23, ma < 0.28 eV (fa > 2.02 × 107 GeV) and ∑ mν < 0.16 eV at 95% CL. This corresponds approximately to a factor of 5 improvement in the axion mass bound with respect to the existing limits. Very similar results are obtained for the DFSZ axion. We also forecast upcoming observations from future CMB and galaxy surveys, showing that they could reach percent level errors for ma ∼ 1 eV.

Abstract The QCD axion acquires the potential through the non-perturbative effect of the QCD matters around the QCD phase transition. During this period, the direct interaction between the axion and the QCD matters sets in. Focusing on the impact of this direct interaction, we propose two scenarios where the fluctuation of the axion can rapidly grow, potentially leading to the formation of axion miniclusters even if the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry was already broken during inflation. The first scenario assumes that the primordial curvature perturbation at the horizon scale during the QCD epoch was significantly enhanced and the second one assumes that the initial misalignment was tuned around the hilltop of the potential.

Scattering and decay processes of thermal bath particles in the early universe can dump relativistic axions in the primordial plasma. If produced with a significant abundance, their presence can leave observable signatures in cosmological observables probing both the early and the late universe. We focus on the QCD axion and present recent and significant improvements for the calculation of the axion production rate across the different energy scales during the expansion of the universe. We apply these rates to predict the abundance of produced axions and to derive the latest cosmological bounds on the axion mass and couplings.