Axion domain walls and thermal friction
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866914224727392256 |
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| author | Favitta, Amedeo M. |
| author_facet | Favitta, Amedeo M. |
| contents | The post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn symmetry-breaking scenario provides a rich theoretical framework to study axion dark matter production through the dynamics oftopological defects. Accurate predictions for the axion abundance require a detailed understanding of the formation and evolution of cosmic strings and domain walls, which are inevitably produced in this scenario. Most existing studies rely on large-scale numerical simulations of the classical equations of motion, which are subject to significant systematic uncertainties. In this contribution, we briefly review the main features of the post-inflationary scenario and the current limitations in the literature, and present preliminary results from a new analytical framework for axion domain wall networks. Our approach is based on nonequilibrium quantum field theory. It employs the two-particle-irreducible effective action to derive effective Fokker-Planck equations for macroscopic quantities such as the average energy density and root-mean-square velocity of the network.We discuss the relevance of thermal, self-interactions, plasma-induced and quantum effects for cosmological axion abundance estimates, with applications to QCD axions and high-mass axion-like particles. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_23775 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Axion domain walls and thermal friction Favitta, Amedeo M. High Energy Physics - Phenomenology The post-inflationary Peccei-Quinn symmetry-breaking scenario provides a rich theoretical framework to study axion dark matter production through the dynamics oftopological defects. Accurate predictions for the axion abundance require a detailed understanding of the formation and evolution of cosmic strings and domain walls, which are inevitably produced in this scenario. Most existing studies rely on large-scale numerical simulations of the classical equations of motion, which are subject to significant systematic uncertainties. In this contribution, we briefly review the main features of the post-inflationary scenario and the current limitations in the literature, and present preliminary results from a new analytical framework for axion domain wall networks. Our approach is based on nonequilibrium quantum field theory. It employs the two-particle-irreducible effective action to derive effective Fokker-Planck equations for macroscopic quantities such as the average energy density and root-mean-square velocity of the network.We discuss the relevance of thermal, self-interactions, plasma-induced and quantum effects for cosmological axion abundance estimates, with applications to QCD axions and high-mass axion-like particles. |
| title | Axion domain walls and thermal friction |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.23775 |