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A<sc>bstract</sc> We propose a relaxation mechanism for the initial misalignment angle of the pre-inflationary QCD axion with a large decay constant. The proposal addresses the challenges posed to the axion dark matter scenario by an overabundance of axions overclosing the Universe, as well as by isocurvature constraints. Many state-of-the-art experiments are searching for QCD axion dark matter with a decay constant as large as 1016GeV, motivating the need for a theoretical framework such as ours. In our model, hidden sector magnetic monopoles generated in the early Universe give the axion a large mass via the Witten effect, causing early oscillations that reduce the misalignment angle and axion abundance. As the hidden gauge symmetry breaks, its monopoles confine via cosmic strings, dissipating energy into the Standard Model and leading to monopole-antimonopole annihilation. This removes the monopole-induced mass, leaving only the standard QCD term. We consider the symmetry breaking pattern of SU(2)′→ U(1)′→ 1, leading to monopole and string formation respectively. We calculate the monopole abundance, their interactions with the axion field, and the necessary conditions for monopole-induced axion oscillations, while accounting for UV instanton effects. We present three model variations based on different symmetry breaking scales and show that they can accommodate an axion decay constant of up to 1016GeV with an inflationary scale of 1015GeV. The required alignment between monopole-induced and QCD axion potentials is achieved through a modest Nelson-Barr mechanism, avoiding overclosure without anthropic reasoning.
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On the dynamical origin of the η′ potential and the axion mass
A<sc>bstract</sc> We investigate the dynamics responsible for generating the potential of theη′, the (would-be) Goldstone boson associated with the anomalous axial U(1) symmetry of QCD. The standard lore posits that pure QCD dynamics generates a confining potential with a branched structure as a function of theθangle, and that this same potential largely determines the properties of theη′once fermions are included. Here we test this picture by examining a supersymmetric extension of QCD with a small amount of supersymmetry breaking generated via anomaly mediation. For pure SU(N) QCD without flavors, we verify that there areNbranches generated by gaugino condensation. Once quarks are introduced, the flavor effects qualitatively change the strong dynamics of the pure theory. ForFflavors we find |N − F| branches, whose dynamical origin is gaugino condensation in the unbroken subgroup forF < N –1, and in the dual gauge group forF > N+ 1. For the special cases ofF=N –1,N,N+ 1 we find no branches and the entire potential is consistent with being a one-instanton effect. The number of branches is a simple consequence of the selection rules of an anomalous U(1)Rsymmetry. We find that theη′mass does not vanish in the largeNlimit for fixedF/N, since the anomaly is non-vanishing. The same dynamics that is responsible for theη′potential is also responsible for the axion potential. We present a simple derivation of the axion mass formula for an arbitrary number of flavors.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2014071
- PAR ID:
- 10557013
- Publisher / Repository:
- JHEP 10 (2023) 139
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of High Energy Physics
- Volume:
- 2023
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 1029-8479
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2023)139
