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Main Authors: Badziak, Marcin, Laletin, Maxim
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.18186
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author Badziak, Marcin
Laletin, Maxim
author_facet Badziak, Marcin
Laletin, Maxim
contents We compute the QCD axion contribution to the energy density of dark radiation, parameterized by $ΔN_{\rm eff}$, by solving Boltzmann equations for the momentum distribution functions including the effects of quantum statistics for all particles involved in the axion production processes. This approach gives precise prediction for $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ independently on whether axions are produced via freeze-out or freeze-in. We focus on axions produced via flavor-conserving and flavor-violating interactions with leptons. Our precise predictions for $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ can differ from those assuming thermal shape for the momentum distribution functions, as commonly done in the literature, by more than the experimental precision of future Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations. Current lower limits on the axion couplings from Planck constraints on $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ are also affected by our precise computation which, in particular, results in a strongly relaxed bound on flavor-violating axion couplings to tau lepton and muon or electron.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_18186
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Precise predictions for the QCD axion contribution to dark radiation with full phase-space evolution
Badziak, Marcin
Laletin, Maxim
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
We compute the QCD axion contribution to the energy density of dark radiation, parameterized by $ΔN_{\rm eff}$, by solving Boltzmann equations for the momentum distribution functions including the effects of quantum statistics for all particles involved in the axion production processes. This approach gives precise prediction for $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ independently on whether axions are produced via freeze-out or freeze-in. We focus on axions produced via flavor-conserving and flavor-violating interactions with leptons. Our precise predictions for $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ can differ from those assuming thermal shape for the momentum distribution functions, as commonly done in the literature, by more than the experimental precision of future Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations. Current lower limits on the axion couplings from Planck constraints on $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ are also affected by our precise computation which, in particular, results in a strongly relaxed bound on flavor-violating axion couplings to tau lepton and muon or electron.
title Precise predictions for the QCD axion contribution to dark radiation with full phase-space evolution
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.18186