Abstract
We propose a new regime of minimal QCD axion dark matter that lies between the pre- and post-inflationary scenarios, such that the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is restored only on sufficiently large spatial scales. This leads to a novel cosmological evolution, in which strings and domain walls re-enter the horizon and annihilate later than in the ordinary post-inflationary regime, possibly even after the QCD crossover. Such dynamics can occur if the PQ symmetry is restored by inflationary fluctuations, i.e. the Hubble parameter during inflation HI is larger than the PQ breaking scale fa, but it is not thermally restored afterwards. Solving the Fokker-Planck equation, we estimate the number of inflationary e-folds required for the PQ symmetry to be, on average, restored. Moreover, we show that, in the large parts of parameter space where the radial mode is displaced from the minimum by de Sitter fluctuations, a string network forms due to the radial mode oscillating over the top of its potential after inflation. In both cases we identify order one ranges in HI/fa and in the quartic coupling λ of the PQ potential that lead to the late-string dynamics. In this regime the cosmological dark matter abundance can be reproduced for axion decay constants as low as the astrophysical constraint 𝒪(108) GeV, corresponding to axion masses up to 10−2 eV, and with miniclusters with masses as large as 𝒪(10)M⊙.
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Acknowledgments
We wish to thank Andrea Tesi and Giovanni Villadoro for discussions. MR was supported by MIUR grant PRIN 2017FMJFMW. EH acknowledges the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council for support through the Quantum Sensors for the Hidden Sector collaboration under the grant ST/T006145/1 and UK Research and Innovation Future Leader Fellowship MR/V024566/1. The work of MG is supported by the Alexander von Humboldt foundation and has been partially funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - 491245950. The work of AN is supported by the grants PID2019-108122GB-C32 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Unit of Excellence María de Maeztu 2020-2023 of ICCUB (CEX2019-000918-M) and AGAUR2017-SGR-754. AN is grateful to the Physics Department of the University of Florence for the hospitality during the course of this work.
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Gorghetto, M., Hardy, E., Nicolaescu, H. et al. Early vs late string networks from a minimal QCD Axion. J. High Energ. Phys. 2024, 223 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2024)223
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2024)223