Resurrecting low-mass axion dark matter via a dynamical QCD scale

Heurtier, Lucien; Huang, Fei; Tait, Tim M.P.

Abstract

In the framework where the strong coupling is dynamical, the QCD sector may confine at a much higher temperature than it would in the Standard Model, and the temperature-dependent mass of the QCD axion evolves in a non-trivial way. We find that, depending on the evolution of ΛQCD, the axion field may undergo multiple distinct phases of damping and oscillation leading generically to a suppression of its relic abundance. Such a suppression could therefore open up a wide range of parameter space, resurrecting in particular axion dark-matter models with a large Peccei-Quinn scale fa ≫ 1012 GeV, i.e., with a lighter mass than the standard QCD axion.

Citation

Heurtier, L., Huang, F., & Tait, T. M. (2021). Resurrecting low-mass axion dark matter via a dynamical QCD scale. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2021(12), Article 216. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep12%282021%29216

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 3, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Dec 29, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 17, 2022
• Journal: Journal of High Energy Physics
• Print ISSN: 1126-6708
• Electronic ISSN: 1029-8479
• Publisher: Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2021
• Issue: 12
• Article Number: 216
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep12%282021%29216
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1213919