Engineering topics

Co, Raymond T.

Publications and source records attributed to Co, Raymond T..

3 records

DOE OSTI2024

A light QCD axion with hilltop misalignment

We study the cosmological evolution of a light QCD axion and identify the parameter space to obtain the correct relic dark matter abundance. The axion potential is flattened at the origin, corresponding to the only minimum, while it is unsuppressed at π. These potential features arise by assuming a mirror sector with the strong CP phase $\overline{θ}$ shifted by π compared to the SM sector, which allows the mirror axion potential to be tuned against the usual QCD axion potential. Before the QCD phase transition, assuming the mirror sector is decoupled and much colder than the SM thermal bath, the mirror sector potential dominates, causing the axion to initially roll to a temporary minimum at π. However, after the QCD phase transition, the potential minimum changes, and the axion relaxes from the newly created “hilltop” near π to the CP-conserving minimum at the origin. As the axion adiabatically tracks this shift in the potential minimum through the QCD phase transition, with non-adiabatic evolution near π and 0, it alters the usual prediction of the dark matter abundance. Consequently, this “hilltop” misalignment mechanism opens new regions of axion parameter space, with the correct relic abundance while still solving the strong CP problem, that could be explored in future experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Axion cogenesis without isocurvature perturbations

Axion rotations can simultaneously explain the dark matter abundance and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe by kinetic misalignment and axiogenesis. We consider a scenario in which the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking field is as large as the Planck scale during inflation and the axion rotation is initiated by the inflaton-induced potential immediately after the end of inflation. This is a realization of the cogenesis scenario that is free of problems with domain walls and isocurvature perturbations thanks to large explicit Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking at the Planck scale during inflation. The baryon asymmetry can be more efficiently produced by leptoaxiogenesis, in which case the axion mass is predicted to be larger than O⁡(0.1) meV. We also discuss a UV complete model in supersymmetric theories.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Gravity as a Portal to Reheating, Leptogenesis and Dark Matter

Considering graviton as the only messenger that exists between the inflaton, the dark sector and the Standard Model (SM), we show, it is possible to simultaneously generate the observed relic density of dark matter (DM), the baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis, as well as successful reheating after inflation. Assuming the inflaton Φ oscillates in a monomial potential V(Φ) ∝ Φ k at the end of inflation, reheating via minimal gravitational interaction turns out to be excluded due to excessive production of gravitational wave (GW) energy density from inflation. We thus (a) extend the minimal model by considering a non-minimal gravitational contribution to radiation and (b)) propose an explanation for the PeV excess observed by IceCube, when the DM has an explicit Yukawa coupling to the SM leptong and Higgs. We also propose a novel scenario, where the gravitational production is a two-step process, through the production of a pair of scalars, that eventually decay into fermionic final states. Our framework gives rise to detectable primordial GW signal, that falls within the sensitivity of several proposed GW detectors.

Barman, Basabendu↗