Axion Fragmentation

Abstract

We investigate the production of axion quanta during the early universe evolution of an axion-like field rolling down a wiggly potential. We compute the growth of quantum fluctuations and their back-reaction on the homogeneous zero-mode. We evaluate the transfer of kinetic energy from the zero mode to the quantum fluctuations and the conditions to decelerate the axion zero-mode as a function of the Hubble rate, the slope of the potential, the size of the barriers and the initial field velocity. We discuss how these effects impact the relaxion mechanism.

29 pages and 17 figures in main text, 24 pages and 7 figures in appendices, v2: published version

References in corpus (10)

• The Large-Misalignment Mechanism for the Formation of Compact Axion Structures: Signatures from the QCD Axion to Fuzzy Dark Matter
• Quantum Radiation of Oscillons
• Inflaton Fragmentation and Oscillon Formation in Three Dimensions
• Constraining axion inflation with gravitational waves from preheating
• Relaxation from particle production
• Baryogenesis from Strong CP Violation and the QCD Axion
• Chiral Anomaly, Schwinger Effect, Euler-Heisenberg Lagrangian, and application to axion inflation
• Inflaton fragmentation: Emergence of pseudo-stable inflaton lumps (oscillons) after inflation
• Relaxion Fluctuations (Self-stopping Relaxion) and Overview of Relaxion Stopping Mechanisms
• Cosmological Relaxation from Dark Fermion Production

Cited by in corpus (40)

• Cosmological Background Interpretation of Pulsar Timing Array Data
• Gravitational Wave and CMB Probes of Axion Kination
• Dark matter from an even lighter QCD axion: trapped misalignment
• Supercool Composite Dark Matter Beyond 100 TeV
• Gravitational Waves and Dark Photon Dark Matter from Axion Rotations
• Probing the Relaxed Relaxion at the Luminosity and Precision Frontiers
• Searching for Earth/Solar Axion Halos
• Audible Axions with a Booster: Stochastic Gravitational Waves from Rotating ALPs
• Axiogenesis from $SU(2{)}_R$ phase transition
• Probing the relaxed relaxion and Higgs-portal with S1 & S2
• Relaxion Fluctuations (Self-stopping Relaxion) and Overview of Relaxion Stopping Mechanisms
• One $\mu$ to rule them all: CMB spectral distortions can probe domain walls, cosmic strings and low scale phase transitions
• ALP Dark Matter Mini-Clusters from Kinetic Fragmentation
• A search for axion-like particles in light-by-light scattering at the CLIC
• Collider searches of scalar singlets across lifetimes
• Gravitational Wave Echo of Relaxion Trapping
• Stability of domain walls in models with asymmetric potentials
• Kick it like DESI: PNGB quintessence with a dynamically generated initial velocity
• ALP dark matter with non-periodic potentials: parametric resonance, halo formation and gravitational signatures
• Diraxiogenesis
• QCD Axion Kinetic Misalignment without Prejudice
• Axion dark matter from frictional misalignment
• Oscillon spectroscopy
• Lepto-axiogenesis and the scale of supersymmetry
• Axiogenesis with a Heavy QCD Axion
• Gauged Quintessence
• Baryogenesis from Decaying Magnetic Helicity in Axiogenesis
• Probing photophobic (rel)axion dark matter
• B-modes from Post-inflationary Gravitational Waves Sourced by Axionic Instabilities at Cosmic Reionization
• New Source for QCD Axion Dark Matter Production: Curvature Induced
• Gravitational tests of electroweak relaxation
• (Non-)Perturbative Dynamics of a Light QCD Axion: Dark Matter and the Strong CP Problem
• ALP Dark Matter from Kinetic Fragmentation: Opening up the Parameter Window
• R-Parity Violation Axiogenesis
• Probing Dark Matter Clumps, Strings and Domain Walls with Gravitational Wave Detectors
• Predicting the Dark Matter -- Baryon Abundance Ratio
• Gravitational signatures of ALP dark matter fragmentation
• Mixing Particle Production for Relaxion Mechanism
• Evolution of superhorizon perturbations in early Universe with anisotropic solid remnant
• Axion Fragmentation on the Lattice