QCD Vacuum and Axions: What's Happening?

Abstract

A deeper understanding of the vacuum structure in QCD invites one to rethink certain aspects of the axion physics. The recent advances are mostly due to developments in supersymmetric gauge theories and the brane theory, in which QCD can be embedded. They include, but are not limited to, the studies of metastable vacua in multicolor gluodynamics, and the domain walls. We briefly review basics of the axion physics and then present a modern perspective on a rich interplay between the QCD vacuum structure and axion physics.

43 pages; An expanded version of a review talk given by G.G. at ``Continuous Advances in QCD 2002/Arkadyfest'', honoring the 60'th birthday of Arkady Vainshtein, Minneapolis, May 17 - 23, 2002

Cited by in corpus (38)

• The landscape of QCD axion models
• Axion Cosmology Revisited
• SU(N) gauge theories at large N
• The high temperature phase transition in SU(N) gauge theories
• Properties of the deconfining phase transition in SU(N) gauge theories
• A Visible QCD Axion from an Enlarged Color Group
• Theta dependence, sign problems and topological interference
• Solitonic D-branes and brane annihilation
• Stabilizing the Axion by Discrete Gauge Symmetries
• Effects of eight-quark interactions on the hadronic vacuum and mass spectra of light mesons
• Alpha-states in de Sitter space
• Surface theorem for the Chern-Simons axion coupling
• Transplanckian Censorship and Global Cosmic Strings
• Axion Models with High-Scale Supersymmetry Breaking
• Non-Canonical Gauge Coupling Unification in High-Scale Supersymmetry Breaking
• String Scale Gauge Coupling Unification with Vector-like Exotics and Non-Canonical U(1)_Y Normalization
• Non-planar data of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM
• Deconfinement on axion domain walls
• Lattice gauge theory and dynamical quantum phase transitions using noisy intermediate scale quantum devices
• Embedding Flipped SU(5) into SO(10)
• $\theta$ and the ${\eta }^{\prime }$ in Large $N$ Supersymmetric QCD
• Hall Droplet Sheets in Holographic QCD
• Black Hole Portal into Hidden Valleys
• On Theta Dependence of Glueballs from AdS/CFT
• Nonabelian Strings and Axion
• Phases of Inflation
• Renormalization of the vacuum angle in quantum mechanics, Berry phase and continuous measurements
• Natural inflation, strong dynamics, and the role of generalized anomalies
• Persistent Challenges of Quantum Chromodynamics
• Poincaré recurrence theorem and the strong CP-problem
• Light Sterile Neutrinos in the Supersymmetric U(1)' Models and Axion Models
• Quantization leading to a natural flattening of the axion potential
• Two types of domain walls in $\mathcal{N}=1$ super-QCD: how they are classified and counted
• Impact of Axions on Confinement in Three and Two Dimensions
• A Quantal Theory of Restoration of Strong CP Symmetry
• The mixed $0$-form/$1$-form anomaly in Hilbert space: pouring new wine into old bottles
• Strong CP Phase and Parity in the Hamiltonian Formalism
• A New Solution to the Strong CP Problem