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Main Authors: Cheek, Andrew, Min, Ui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.17320
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author Cheek, Andrew
Min, Ui
author_facet Cheek, Andrew
Min, Ui
contents Preferred axion models are minimal realizations of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem while providing a dark matter candidate. These models invoke new heavy quarks that interact strongly with the Standard Model bringing them into thermal equilibrium in the early Universe. We show that for a number of these models, the heavy quarks will decay after axions have decoupled from the Standard Model thermal bath. As a consequence, any axion products in the decay form a component of dark radiation. This provides the potential to differentiate between preferred axion models through measurements of the number of relativistic degrees of freedom. The most sensitive of which comes from the Planck collaboration's measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background. We find that existing constraints allow us to rule out regions of parameter space for 40% of the canonical preferred axion models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_17320
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Using $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ to constrain preferred axion model dark matter
Cheek, Andrew
Min, Ui
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Preferred axion models are minimal realizations of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem while providing a dark matter candidate. These models invoke new heavy quarks that interact strongly with the Standard Model bringing them into thermal equilibrium in the early Universe. We show that for a number of these models, the heavy quarks will decay after axions have decoupled from the Standard Model thermal bath. As a consequence, any axion products in the decay form a component of dark radiation. This provides the potential to differentiate between preferred axion models through measurements of the number of relativistic degrees of freedom. The most sensitive of which comes from the Planck collaboration's measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background. We find that existing constraints allow us to rule out regions of parameter space for 40% of the canonical preferred axion models.
title Using $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ to constrain preferred axion model dark matter
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.17320