Catastrogenesis with unstable ALPs as the origin of the NANOGrav 15 yr gravitational wave signal

Abstract

In post-inflation axion-like particle (ALP) models, a stable domain wall network forms if the model's potential has multiple minima. This system must annihilate before dominating the Universe's energy density, producing ALPs and gravitational waves (a process we dub "catastrogenesis," or "creation via annihilation"). We examine the possibility that the gravitational wave background recently reported by NANOGrav is due to catastrogenesis. For the case of ALP decay into two photons, we identify the region of ALP mass and coupling, just outside current limits, compatible with the NANOGrav signal.

arXiv comment9 pages, 2 figures; additional bound in Figure 1, minor corrections and clarifications in the text, and added references. Matches published version

References in corpus (34)

• TianQin: a space-borne gravitational wave detector
• String Axiverse
• The NANOGrav 15-year Data Set: Evidence for a Gravitational-Wave Background
• The Low-Energy Frontier of Particle Physics
• Possibility of Direct Measurement of the Acceleration of the Universe Using 0.1 Hz Band Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Antenna in Space
• The NANOGrav 15-year Data Set: Search for Signals from New Physics
• Taiji Program: Gravitational-Wave Sources
• Scientific Objectives of Einstein Telescope
• Detecting the Cosmic Gravitational Wave Background with the Big Bang Observer
• AEDGE: Atomic Experiment for Dark Matter and Gravity Exploration in Space
• General Properties of the Gravitational Wave Spectrum from Phase Transitions
• Axion dark matter from topological defects
• Search for the isotropic stochastic background using data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run
• Revised constraints and Belle II sensitivity for visible and invisible axion-like particles
• Universal infrared scaling of gravitational wave background spectra
• New constraints on primordial gravitational waves from Planck 2015
• Factoring the Strong CP Problem
• A Model of Visible QCD Axion
• The High Quality QCD Axion and the LHC
• Robust cosmological constraints on axion-like particles
• Color Unifed Dynamical Axion
• SNEWS 2.0: A Next-Generation SuperNova Early Warning System for Multi-messenger Astronomy
• Planck Scale Symmetry Breaking and Majoron Physics
• Primordial Black Holes from the QCD axion
• Axion-sourced fireballs from supernovae
• Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background from Global Cosmic Strings
• Gravitational waves from first order phase transitions as a probe of an early matter domination era and its inverse problem
• Gravitational waves from axion-like particle cosmic string-wall networks
• Catastrogenesis: DM, GWs, and PBHs from ALP string-wall networks
• Pseudo-Majoron as Dark Matter
• Primordial black hole dark matter from catastrogenesis with unstable pseudo-Goldstone bosons
• Enhanced axion-photon coupling in GUT with hidden photon
• Spontaneous Breaking of Lepton Number and Cosmological Domain Wall Problem
• Axions from wall decay

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Bounds on Ultralight Dark Matter from NANOGrav
• Enhancement of gravitational waves at Q-ball decay including non-linear density perturbations
• Diraxiogenesis
• Stochastic gravitational wave background: birth from string-wall death
• Irreducible cosmological backgrounds of a real scalar with a broken symmetry
• Interplay between the muon $g-2$ anomaly and the PTA nHZ gravitational waves from domain walls in next-to minimal supersymmetric standard model