Dark Matter Axions in the Early Universe with a Period of Increasing Temperature

Abstract

We consider the production of axion dark matter through the misalignment mechanism in the context of a nonstandard cosmological history involving early matter domination by a scalar field with a time-dependent decay rate. In cases where the temperature of the Universe experiences a temporary period of increase, Hubble friction can be restored in the evolution of the axion field, resulting in the possibility of up to three "crossings" of the axion mass and the Hubble expansion rate. This has the effect of dynamically resetting the misalignment mechanism to a new initial state for a second distinct phase of oscillation. The resultant axion mass required for the present dark matter relic density is never bigger than the standard-history window and can be smaller by more than three orders of magnitude, which can be probed by upcoming experiments such as ABRACADABRA, KLASH, ADMX, MADMAX, and ORGAN, targeting the axion-photon coupling. This highlights the possibility of exploring the cosmological history prior to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis through searches for axion dark matter beyond the standard window.

28 pages, 8 figures; updated to match published version

References in corpus (29)

• The landscape of QCD axion models
• The First Three Seconds: a Review of Possible Expansion Histories of the Early Universe
• First Results from Axion Haloscope at CAPP around 10.7 $\mu$eV
• Inflaton Oscillations and Post-Inflationary Reheating
• Search for axion-like dark matter with ferromagnets
• Update of axion CDM energy density
• Search for invisible axion dark matter of mass m${}_a=43\mu$eV with the QUAX--$a\gamma$ experiment
• Improved estimation of radiated axions from cosmological axionic strings
• Dynamics of oscillating scalar field in thermal environment
• An even lighter QCD axion
• Axion Quasiparticles for Axion Dark Matter Detection
• Dark matter from an even lighter QCD axion: trapped misalignment
• Probing the Early Universe with Axion Physics and Gravitational Waves
• Axion constraints in non-standard thermal histories
• Axion Dark Matter in the Time of Primordial Black Holes
• Light Dark Matter from Inflaton Decay
• Imprints of the Early Universe on Axion Dark Matter Substructure
• ALP Dark Matter in a Primordial Black Hole Dominated Universe
• Ultraviolet Freeze-in with a Time-dependent Inflaton Decay
• WIMPs during Reheating
• Increasing Temperature toward the Completion of Reheating
• New opportunities for axion dark matter searches in nonstandard cosmological models
• Implications of time-dependent inflaton decay on reheating and dark matter production
• Thermal axions with multi-eV masses are possible in low-reheating scenarios
• QCD Axion Kinetic Misalignment without Prejudice
• Resurrecting Low-Mass Axion Dark Matter Via a Dynamical QCD Scale
• Altered Axion Abundance from a Dynamical Peccei-Quinn Scale
• MiMeS: Misalignment Mechanism Solver
• Relic Density of Axion Dark Matter in Standard and Non-Standard Cosmological Scenarios

Cited by in corpus (10)

• WIMPs during Reheating
• From WIMPs to FIMPs with Low Reheating Temperatures
• The Interplay between the Dark Matter Axion and Primordial Black Holes
• QCD Axion Kinetic Misalignment without Prejudice
• Revisiting signatures of thermal axions in nonstandard cosmologies
• Minimal solution to the axion isocurvature problem from a nonminimal coupling
• Thermal and nonthermal dark matters with gravitational neutrino reheating
• Using $\Delta N_{\mathrm{eff}}$ to constrain preferred axion model dark matter
• Chiral Gravitational Wave Background from Audible Axion via Nieh-Yan Term
• Axion Dark Matter Archaeology with Primordial Gravitational Waves