Strong CP Problem Research Articles

Qcd Surprises: Strong Cp Problem, Neutrino Mass, Dark Matter and Dark Energy

An unexpected explanation for neutrino mass, Dark Matter (DM) and Dark Energy (DE) from genuine Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) of the Standard Model (SM) is proposed here, while the strong CP problem is resolved without any need to account for fundamental axions. We suggest that the neutrino sector can be in a double phase in the Universe: i) relativistic neutrinos, belonging to the SM; ii) non-relativistic condensate of Majorana neutrinos. The condensate of neutrinos can provide an attractive alternative candidate for the DM, being in a cold coherent state. We will explain how neutrinos, combining into Cooper pairs, can form collective low-energy degrees of freedom, hence providing a strongly motivated candidate for the QCD (composite) axion.

OUP accepted manuscript

Abstract We discuss a natural scenario to solve the strong CP problem in the framework of the higher dimensional gauge theory. An axion-like field Ay has been built-in as the extra-space component of the higher dimensional gauge field. The coupling of Ay with gluons is attributed to the radiatively induced “Chern-Simons” (CS) term. We adopt a toy model with some unknown gauge symmetry U(1)X. The CS term is obtained in two ways: first by a concrete 1-loop calculation and next by use of the Fujikawa’s method to deal with the chiral anomaly in 4D space-time. The obtained results are identical, which implies that the radiative correction to the CS term is “1-loop exact” and is also free from UV-divergence even though the theory itself is non-renormalizable. As a novel feature of this scenario, such obtained CS term is no longer linear in the field Ay as in the usually discussed CS term in 5D space-time but a periodic function of Ay, since Ay has a physical meaning as the Wilson-loop phase. We argue how such novel feature of this scenario causes the modification of the ordinary solutions of the strong CP problem based on the axion fields.

A method for controlling the magnetic field near a superconducting boundary in the ARIADNE axion experiment

The QCD axion is a particle postulated to exist since the 1970s to explain the strong-CP problem in particle physics. It could also account for all of the observed dark matter in the Universe. The axion resonant interaction detection experiment (ARIADNE) intends to detect the QCD axion by sensing the fictitious ‘magnetic field’ created by its coupling to spin. Short-range axion-mediated interactions can occur between a sample of laser-polarized 3He nuclear spins and an unpolarized source-mass sprocket. The experiment must be sensitive to magnetic fields below the 10−19 T level to achieve its design sensitivity, necessitating tight control of the experiment’s magnetic environment. We describe a method for controlling three aspects of that environment which would otherwise limit the experimental sensitivity. Firstly, a system of superconducting magnetic shielding is described to screen ordinary magnetic noise from the sample volume at the 108 level, which should be sufficient to reduce the contribution of Johnson noise in the sprocket-shaped source mass, expected to be at the 10−12 T level, to below the threshold for signal detection. Secondly, a method for reducing magnetic field gradients within the sample up to 102 times is described, using a simple and cost-effective design geometry. Thirdly, a novel coil design is introduced which allows the generation of fields similar to those produced by Helmholtz coils in regions directly abutting superconducting boundaries. This method allows the nuclear Larmor frequency of the sample to be tuned to match the axion field modulation frequency set by the sprocket rotation. Finally, we experimentally investigate the magnetic shielding factor of sputtered thin-film superconducting niobium on quartz substrates for various geometries and film thicknesses relevant for the ARIADNE axion experiment using SQUID magnetometry. The methods may be generally useful for magnetic field control near superconducting boundaries in other experiments where similar considerations apply.

Impact of Superconductors’ Properties on the Measurement Sensitivity of Resonant-Based Axion Detectors

Axions, hypothetical particles theorised to solve the strong CP problem, are presently being considered as strong candidates for cold dark matter constituents. The signal power of resonant-based axion detectors, known as haloscopes, is directly proportional to their quality factor Q. In this paper, the impact of the use of superconductors on the performances of haloscopes is studied by evaluating the obtainable Q. In particular, the surface resistance Rs of NbTi, Nb3Sn, YBa2Cu3O7−δ, and FeSe0.5Te0.5 is computed in the frequency, magnetic field, and temperature ranges of interest, starting from the measured vortex motion complex resistivity and the screening lengths of these materials. From Rs, the quality factor Q of a cylindrical haloscope with copper conical bases and a superconductive lateral wall, operating with the TM010 mode, is evaluated and used to perform a comparison of the performances of the different materials. Both YBa2Cu3O7−δ and FeSe0.5Te0.5 are shown to improve the measurement sensitivity by almost an order of magnitude, with respect to a whole Cu cavity, while NbTi is shown to be suitable only at lower frequencies (<10 GHz). Nb3Sn can provide an intermediate improvement of the whole spectrum of interest.

MADMAX: a QCD dark matter axion direct-detection experiment

Peccei and Quinn proposed axions to solve the strong CP problem. Axions later turned out to be an excellent candidate for cold dark matter. They may have a mass of around 100 μeV if generated after cosmic inflation. The MADMAX collaboration aims to detect post-inflationary QCD axion using a new detector concept, the dielectric haloscope. It detects axion-induced traveling waves from boundaries of different media, boosted by layers of dielectrics. We report the current progress and future measurement plan for a proof-of-principle setup. We also report the current development of the prototype detector and the full MADMAX experiment.

Exploring the Sun’s core with BabylAXO

Axions are a natural consequence of the Peccei-Quinn mechanism, the most compelling solution to the strong-CP problem. Similar axion-like particles (ALPs) also appear in a number of possible extensions of the Standard Model, notably in string theories. Both, axions and ALPs, are very well motivated candidates for Dark Matter (DM), and they would be copiously produced at the sun’s core. A relevant effort during the last two decades has been the CAST experiment at CERN, the most sensitive axion helioscope to date. The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a large-scale 4th generation helioscope, and its primary physics goal is to extend further the search for solar axions or ALPs with a final signal to background ratio of about 5 orders of magnitude higher.We briefly review here the astrophysical hints and models that will be at reach while searching for solar axions within the context of the IAXO helioscope search program, and in particular the physics under reach for BabyIAXO, an intermediate helioscope stage towards the full IAXO.

δCP for leptons and a new take on CP physics with the FSM

A bonus of the framed Standard Model (FSM), constructed initially to explain the mass and mixing patterns of quarks and leptons, is a solution (without axions) of the strong CP problem by cancelling the theta-angle term [Formula: see text] in colour a by a chiral transformation on a quark zero mode which is inherent in FSM, and produces thereby a CP-violating phase in the CKM matrix similar in size to what is observed.1 Extending here to flavour, one finds that there are two terms proportional to [Formula: see text]: (a) in the action from flavour instantons with unknown coefficient, say [Formula: see text], (b) induced by the above FSM solution to the strong CP-problem with therefore known coefficient [Formula: see text]. Both terms can be cancelled in the FSM by a chiral transformation on the lepton zero mode to give a Jarlskog invariant [Formula: see text] in the PMNS matrix for leptons of order [Formula: see text], as is hinted by the experiment. But if, as suggested in Ref. 2, the term [Formula: see text] is to be cancelled by a chiral transformation in the predicted hidden sector to solve the strong CP problem therein, leaving only the term [Formula: see text] to be cancelled by the chiral transformation on leptons, then the following prediction results: [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] which is (i) of the right order, (ii) of the right sign and (iii) in the range favoured by the present experiment. Together with the earlier result for quarks, this offers an attractive unified treatment of all known CP physics. a We use [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] here to denote, respectively the [Formula: see text], flavour [Formula: see text] and colour [Formula: see text] gauge fields.

The Echo Method for Axion Dark Matter Detection

The axion is a dark matter candidate arising from the spontaneous breaking of the Peccei–Quinn symmetry, introduced to solve the strong CP problem. It has been shown that radio/microwave radiation sent out to space is backscattered in the presence of axion dark matter due to stimulated axion decay. This backscattering is a feeble and narrow echo signal centered at an angular frequency very close to one-half of the axion mass. In this article, we summarize all the relevant results found so far, including analytical formulas for the echo signal, as well as sensitivity prospects for possible near-future experiments.

Ultralight axions versus primordial black holes

We reconsider entropy arguments which have been previously argued to support the idea that the dark matter constituents are primordial black holes with many solar masses. It has recently been shown that QCD axions which solve the strong CP problem may have masses [Formula: see text] in the extended range [Formula: see text]. Ultralight axions provide so many degrees of freedom that their entropy can exceed that of primordial black holes. This suggests that ultralight axions are more suited than primordial black holes to be constituents of dark matter.

New method of probing an oscillating EDM induced by axionlike dark matter using an rf Wien filter in storage rings

A hypothetical pseudo-scalar particle axion, which is an immediate result of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem, may couple to gluons and lead to an oscillating electric dipole moment (EDM) of fundamental particles. This paper proposes a novel method of probing the axion-induced oscillating EDM in storage rings, using a radiofrequency (RF) Wien Filter. The Wien Filter at the frequency of the sidebands of the axion and $g-2$ frequency, $f_\text{axion} \pm f_{g-2}$, generates a spin resonance in the presence of an oscillating EDM, as confirmed both by an analytical estimation of the spin equations and independently by simulation. A brief systematic study also shows that this method is unlikely to be limited by Wien Filter misalignment issues.

A low-energy perspective on the minimal left-right symmetric model

We perform a global analysis of the low-energy phenomenology of the minimal left-right symmetric model (mLRSM) with parity symmetry. We match the mLRSM to the Standard Model Effective Field Theory Lagrangian at the left-right-symmetry breaking scale and perform a comprehensive fit to low-energy data including mesonic, neutron, and nuclear β-decay processes, ∆F = 1 and ∆F = 2 CP-even and -odd processes in the bottom and strange sectors, and electric dipole moments (EDMs) of nucleons, nuclei, and atoms. We fit the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa and mLRSM parameters simultaneously and determine a lower bound on the mass of the right-handed WR boson. In models where a Peccei-Quinn mechanism provides a solution to the strong CP problem, we obtain {M}_{W_R} ≳ 5.5 TeV at 95% C.L. which can be significantly improved with next-generation EDM experiments. In the P-symmetric mLRSM without a Peccei-Quinn mechanism we obtain a more stringent constraint {M}_{W_R} ≳ 17 TeV at 95% C.L., which is difficult to improve with low-energy measurements alone. In all cases, the additional scalar fields of the mLRSM are required to be a few times heavier than the right-handed gauge bosons. We consider a recent discrepancy in tests of first-row unitarity of the CKM matrix. We find that, while TeV-scale WR bosons can alleviate some of the tension found in the Vud,us determinations, a solution to the discrepancy is disfavored when taking into account other low-energy observables within the mLRSM.

Flavor constraints for a vector-like quark of Nelson-Barr type

The Nelson-Barr (NB) mechanism to solve the strong CP problem assumes CP conservation, arranges vanishing overline{theta} at tree-level and requires vector-like quarks (VLQs) to transmit the CP breaking to the SM. We analyze the flavor constraints coming from the presence of one such down type VLQ of NB type by performing a global fit on the relevant flavor observables. A comparison is made to the case of one generic VLQ. We find that the allowed parameter space for the VLQ Yukawa couplings and the mixing to the SM are confined to a region much smaller than in the generic case, making the NB case falsifiable in principle.

Probing naturally light singlets with a displaced vertex trigger

We investigate the physics case for a dedicated trigger on a low mass, hadronic displaced vertex at the high luminosity LHC, relying on the CMS phase II track trigger. We estimate the trigger efficiency with a simplified simulation of the CMS track trigger and show that the L1 trigger rate from fake vertices, B meson decays and secondary interactions with the detector material can likely be brought down to the kHz level with a minimal set of cuts. While it would with any doubt be a severe experimental challenge to implement, we conclude that a displaced vertex trigger could open qualitatively new parameter space for exotic Higgs decays, exotic B decays and even direct production of light resonances. We parametrize the physics potential in terms of a singlet scalar mixing with the Standard Model Higgs and an axion-like particle with a coupling to gluons, and review a number or relevant models motivated by the hierarchy and strong CP problems, Dark Matter and baryogenesis.

Stimulated Axion-Like Bipolariton Generation in the Globular Photonic Crystal

Axion is the dark particle introduced to the quantum chromodynamics to solve the strong CP-problem. Because of its dark nature, there are many indirect evidences, but axion itself have not been registered till now. In the paper, we report the observation of dark axion-like particles formed by the polariton coupling in the resonant microcavity of a globular photonic crystal. To overcome the very small cross-section, we use the Bose-Einstein condensation of polaritons into the nearest-to-the-surface microcavity of an opal-like globular photonic crystal. This way, the synchronicity conditions are met and all polaritons have the same wavefunction to be coupled. Moreover, the giant density of states of a Bose-condensate makes polariton coupling not only allowed but stimulated. At the experiment, we observe “Light Shining through a Wall” Primakoff effect which proves dark particles. The additional spectral peak at the unitary polariton line of a maximal transparency of a crystal allows to differ bipolaritons from other particles. The results can be used not only to generate dark particles at a lab, but also to get a laboratory source of an optical-frequency gravitational waves.

Anomaly ratio distributions of hadronic axion models with multiple heavy quarks

We consider hadronic axion models that extend the Standard Model by one complex scalar field and one or more new heavy quarks, i.e. $N_\mathcal{Q} \geq 1$. We review previously suggested selection criteria as well as categorize and catalog all possible models for $N_\mathcal{Q} \leq 9$. In particular, allowing for $N_\mathcal{Q} > 1$ can introduce models that spoil the axion solution of the strong CP problem. Demanding that Landau poles do not appear below some energy scale limits the number of preferred models to a finite number. For our choice of criteria, we find that $N_\mathcal{Q} \leq 28$ and only 820 different anomaly ratios $E/N$ exist (443 when considering additive representations, 12 when all new quarks transform under the same representation). We analyze the ensuing $E/N$ distributions, which can be used to construct informative priors on the axion-photon coupling. The hadronic axion model band may be defined as the central region of one of these distributions, and we show how the band for equally probable, preferred models compares to present and future experimental constraints.

The strong CP problem, general covariance, and horizons

We discuss the strong CP problem in the context of quantum field theory in the presence of horizons. We argue that general covariance places constraints on the topological structure of the theory. In particular, it means that coherence between different topological sectors must have no observable consequence, because the degrees of freedom beyond a causal horizon must be traced over for general covariance to apply. Since the only way for this to occur in QCD is for θ = 0, this might lead to a solution of the strong CP problem without extra observable dynamics.

Challenges for heavy QCD axion inflation

We examine the theoretical possibility for the heavy QCD axion to induce slow-roll inflation while solving the strong CP problem through the Peccei-Quinn mechanism. If the cancellation between contributions from a small-size instanton and another Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking occurs with high accuracy, the potential can be flattened enough near its maximum to achieve hilltop inflation. This comes at the cost of severe fine-tuning of their relative size and phase, but it also allows us to relate the high quality problem of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry to the fine-tuning problem of the hilltop inflation. There are two classes of such axion hilltop inflation, each giving a different relation between the axion mass at the minimum and the decay constant. The first class predicts the relation m ϕ ∼ 10-6 f ϕ, and the axion can decay via the gluon coupling and reheat the universe. Most of the predicted parameter region will be covered by various experiments such as CODEX, DUNE, FASER, LHC, MATHUSLA, and NA62 where the production and decay proceed through the same coupling that induced reheating. The second class predicts the relation m ϕ ∼ 10-6 f 2 ϕ/M pl. In this case, the axion mass is much lighter than in the previous case, and one needs another mechanism for successful reheating. The viable decay constant is restricted to be 108 GeV ≲ f ϕ ≲ 1010 GeV, which will be probed by future experiments on the electric dipole moment of nucleons. In both cases, requiring the axion hilltop inflation results in the strong CP phase that is close to zero.

Filtered asymmetric dark matter during the Peccei-Quinn phase transition

In this paper, we propose a bubble filtering-out mechanism for an asymmetric dark matter scenario during the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) phase transition. Based on a QCD axion model, extended by extra chiral neutrinos, we show that the PQ phase transition can be first order in the parameter space of the model and regarding the PQ symmetry breaking scale, the mechanism can generate PeV-scale heavy neutrinos as a dark matter candidate. Considering a CP-violating source, during the phase transition, discriminating between the neutrino and antineutrino number density, we find the observed dark matter relic abundance, such that the setup can be applied to the first order phase transition with different strengths. We then calculate effective couplings of the QCD axion addressing the strong CP problem within the model. We also study the energy density spectrum of gravitational waves generated from the first order phase transition and show that the signals can be detected by future ground-based detectors such as Einstein Telescope. In particular, for a visible heavy axion case of the model, it is shown that gravitational waves can be probed by DECIGO and BBO interferometers. Furthermore, we discuss the dark matter-standard model neutrino annihilation process as a source for the creation of PeV-scale neutrinos.

Dark matter from an even lighter QCD axion: trapped misalignment

We show that dark matter can be accounted for by an axion that solves the strong CP problem, but is much lighter than usual due to a Z \U0001d4a9 symmetry.The whole mass range from the canonical QCD axion down to the ultra-light regime is allowed, with 3 ≤ \U0001d4a9 ≲ 65. This includes the first proposal of a "fuzzy dark matter" QCD axion with m a ∼ 10-22 eV.A novel misalignment mechanism occurs — trapped misalignment — due to the peculiar temperature dependence of the Z \U0001d4a9 axion potential. The dark matter relic density is enhanced because the axion field undergoes two stages of oscillations: it is first trapped in the wrong minimum, which effectively delays the onset of true oscillations. Trapped misalignment is more general than the setup discussed here, and may hold whenever an extra source of Peccei-Quinn breaking appears at high temperatures. Furthermore, it will be shown that trapped misalignment can dynamically source the recently proposed kinetic misalignment mechanism. All the parameter space is withintantalizing reach of the experimental projects for the next decades. For instance, even Phase I ofCASPEr-Electric could discover this axion.

Uncovering an axion mechanism with the EDM portfolio

Effective field theory arguments suggest that if BSM sectors contain new sources of CP-violation that couple to QCD, these sources will renormalize the $\theta$ term and frustrate ultraviolet solutions to the strong CP problem. Simultaneously, they will generate distinctive patterns of low-energy electric dipole moments in hadronic, nuclear, atomic, and molecular systems. Observing such patterns thus provides evidence that strong CP is solved by an infrared relaxation mechanism. We illustrate the renormalization of $\theta$ and the collections of EDMs generated in a several models of BSM physics, confirming effective field theory expectations, and demonstrate that measurements of ratios of electric dipole moments at planned experiments can provide valuable input on the resolution of the strong CP problem.