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A bstract We explore the cosmological consequences of the superconductivity of QCD axion strings. Axion strings can support a sizeable chiral electric current and charge density, which alters their early universe dynamics. We examine the possibility that shrinking axion string loops can become effectively stable remnants called vortons, supported by the repulsive electromagnetic force of the string current. We find that vortons in our scenario are generically unstable, and so do not pose a cosmological difficulty. Furthermore, if a primordial magnetic field (PMF) exists in the early universe, a large current is induced on axion strings, creating a significant drag force from interactions with the surrounding plasma. As a result, the strings are slowed down, which leads to an orders of magnitude enhancement in the number of strings per Hubble volume. Finally, we study potential implications for the QCD axion relic abundance. The QCD axion window is shifted by orders of magnitude in some parts of our parameter space. 

A bstract We perform a model-independent analysis of the magnetic and electric dipole moments of the muon and electron. We give expressions for the dipole moments in terms of operator coefficients of the low-energy effective field theory (LEFT) and the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT). We use one-loop renormalization group improved perturbation theory, including the one-loop matching from SMEFT onto LEFT, and one-loop lepton matrix elements of the effective-theory operators. Semileptonic four-fermion operators involving light quarks give sizable non-perturbative contributions to the dipole moments, which are included in our analysis. We find that only a very limited set of the SMEFT operators is able to generate the current deviation of the magnetic moment of the muon from its Standard Model expectation.