Axion dark matter from frictional misalignment

Abstract

We study the impact of sphaleron-induced thermal friction on the axion dark-matter abundance due to the interaction of an axion-like particle (ALP) with a dark non-abelian gauge sector in a secluded thermal bath. Thermal friction can either enhance the axion relic density by delaying the onset of oscillations or suppress it by damping them. We derive an analytical formula for the \emph{frictional adiabatic invariant}, which remains constant along the axion evolution and which allows us to compute the axion relic density in a general set-up. Even in the most minimal scenario, in which a single gauge group is responsible for both the generation of the ALP mass and the friction force, we find that the resulting dark-matter abundance from the misalignment mechanism deviates from the standard scenario for axion masses $m_a\gtrsim 100\mathrm{eV}$. We also generalize our analysis to the case where the gauge field that induces friction and the gauge sector responsible for the ALP mass are distinct and their couplings to the axion have a large hierarchy as can be justified by means of alignment or clockwork scenarios. We find that it is easy to open up the ALP parameter space where the resulting axion abundance matches the observed dark-matter relic density both in the traditionally over- and underabundant regimes. This conclusion also holds for the QCD axion.

arXiv comment18 pages, 6 figures and 2 tables. v3: Published version in JHEP. Typos and references corrected. Ten-minute video abstract on Youtube: https://youtu.be/PBtN0XAubfM

References in corpus (91)

• Warm Inflation
• Leptogenesis as the origin of matter
• Completing Natural Inflation
• Thermally Induced Density Perturbations in the Inflation Era
• Naturally inflating on steep potentials through electromagnetic dissipation
• Warm Inflation and its Microphysical Basis
• A Clockwork Axion
• Cosmological bounds on pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons
• Warm Inflation in the Adiabatic Regime- a Model, an Existence Proof for Inflationary Dynamics in Quantum Field Theory
• Phenomenology of a Pseudo-Scalar Inflaton: Naturally Large Nongaussianity
• Realizing the relaxion from multiple axions and its UV completion with high scale supersymmetry
• Self-Interacting Dark Matter from a Non-Abelian Hidden Sector
• Axion Kinetic Misalignment Mechanism
• Chern-Simons Number Diffusion and Hard Thermal Loops on the Lattice
• The Large-Misalignment Mechanism for the Formation of Compact Axion Structures: Signatures from the QCD Axion to Fuzzy Dark Matter
• Strong CP problem and mirror world: the Weinberg Wilczek axion revisited
• Warm Little Inflaton
• Grand unification and heavy axion
• Natural inflation with multiple sub-Planckian axions
• A Clockwork Theory
• The Stochastic Axion Scenario
• Is Warm Inflation Possible?
• The Sphaleron Rate in SU(N) Gauge Theory
• The QCD Axion from Aligned Axions and Diphoton Excess
• The QCD Axion Window and Low Scale Inflation
• A First Principles Warm Inflation Model that Solves the Cosmological Horizon/Flatness Problems
• Anomalous solutions to the strong CP problem
• Global String Radiation
• Axiogenesis
• Factoring the Strong CP Problem
• The Cosmology of String Theoretic Axions
• A Model of Visible QCD Axion
• Hidden SU(N) Glueball Dark Matter
• Axion cold dark matter in non-standard cosmologies
• Axion cosmology, lattice QCD and the dilute instanton gas
• Thermal Friction as a Solution to the Hubble Tension
• Solving the Hierarchy Problem Discretely
• Sphaleron rate in the symmetric electroweak phase
• Minimal Warm Inflation
• Color Unifed Dynamical Axion
• Opening up the QCD axion window
• An even lighter QCD axion
• Invisible Axions and Large-Radius Compactifications
• Relaxation from particle production
• QCD Axion Dark Matter with a Small Decay Constant
• Whispers from the dark side: Confronting light new physics with NANOGrav data
• Audible Axions
• Gauge-field production during axion inflation in the gradient expansion formalism
• Gravitational wave probes of axion-like particles
• Cosmological abundance of the QCD axion coupled to hidden photons
• Natural Warm Inflation
• Axion Fragmentation
• Inflatable Dark Matter
• High temperature color conductivity at next-to-leading log order
• New Perspectives on Axion Misalignment Mechanism
• Quality of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry in the Aligned QCD Axion and Cosmological Implications
• String Theory and the Dark Glueball Problem
• QCD Axion on Hilltop by a Phase Shift of $\pi$
• Dark Energy Radiation
• Topological Defects and nano-Hz Gravitational Waves in Aligned Axion Models
• Thermalized Axion Inflation
• Axion Cosmology with a Stronger QCD in the Early Universe
• Warm dark energy
• New opportunities for axion dark matter searches in nonstandard cosmological models
• Warm (Pseudo)Scalar Inflation
• Audible Axions with a Booster: Stochastic Gravitational Waves from Rotating ALPs
• The sphaleron rate from Euclidean lattice correlators: an exploration
• Warming up cold inflation
• Cosmological Aspects of the Clockwork Axion
• Axiogenesis from $SU(2{)}_R$ phase transition
• QCD Axion Dark Matter from a Late Time Phase Transition
• Gravitational Waves from an Axion-Dark Photon System: A Lattice Study
• Non-perturbative dynamics of hot non-Abelian gauge fields: beyond leading log approximation
• Lepto-axiogenesis in minimal SUSY KSVZ model
• Composite neutrinos and the QCD axion: baryogenesis, dark matter, small Dirac neutrino masses, and vanishing neutron EDM
• Thermalized axion inflation: natural and monomial inflation with small $r$
• Gravitational Wave Echo of Relaxion Trapping
• Maximal axion misalignment from a minimal model
• Trapping Effect for QCD Axion Dark Matter
• Cosmological Relaxation through the Dark Axion Portal
• Topological susceptibility from $N_f=2+1+1$ lattice QCD at nonzero temperature
• Role of trans-Planckian modes in cosmology
• Stochastic inflation with an extremely large number of $e$-folds
• Altered Axion Abundance from a Dynamical Peccei-Quinn Scale
• PBH assisted search for QCD axion dark matter
• QCD axions and axionlike particles in a two-inflation scenario
• Electroweak baryogenesis by axionlike dark matter
• Do We Understand the Sphaleron Rate?
• Thermal Perturbations from Cosmological Constant Relaxation
• The Different Regimes of Axion Gauge Field Inflation
• Sphaleron Transition Rates and the Chiral Magnetic Effect

Cited by in corpus (9)

• The warm inflation story
• ALP Dark Matter Mini-Clusters from Kinetic Fragmentation
• Non-equilibrium dynamics of Axion-like particles: the quantum master equation
• Diraxiogenesis
• Axion dark matter with thermal friction
• On Sphaleron Heating in the Presence of Fermions
• An atomic probe of dark matter differential interactions with elementary particles
• Induced cosmological anisotropy by a gauge-gravity interaction
• Axion Free-kick Misalignment Mechanism