Axion misalignment as a synchronization phenomenon
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866918284266307584 |
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| author | Sanz, Veronica |
| author_facet | Sanz, Veronica |
| contents | We propose a dynamical reinterpretation of axion misalignment as an emergent collective phenomenon. Drawing an explicit parallel between axion field dynamics and synchronization in coupled oscillator systems, we show that a macroscopic axion phase can arise dynamically from initially incoherent configurations through gradient-driven ordering in an expanding Universe. In this framework, the misalignment angle is not a fundamental initial condition but a collective variable that becomes well defined only once phase coherence develops. Using a simple lattice model, we illustrate how the collective phase is selected prior to the onset of axion oscillations, providing a dynamical basis for the standard misalignment picture. This perspective offers a new way of organizing axion initial-condition sensitivity, reframes anthropic small-angle arguments in terms of phase-ordering efficiency, and suggests a broader connection between fine-tuning and emergent collective dynamics in the early Universe. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_07836 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Axion misalignment as a synchronization phenomenon Sanz, Veronica Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory We propose a dynamical reinterpretation of axion misalignment as an emergent collective phenomenon. Drawing an explicit parallel between axion field dynamics and synchronization in coupled oscillator systems, we show that a macroscopic axion phase can arise dynamically from initially incoherent configurations through gradient-driven ordering in an expanding Universe. In this framework, the misalignment angle is not a fundamental initial condition but a collective variable that becomes well defined only once phase coherence develops. Using a simple lattice model, we illustrate how the collective phase is selected prior to the onset of axion oscillations, providing a dynamical basis for the standard misalignment picture. This perspective offers a new way of organizing axion initial-condition sensitivity, reframes anthropic small-angle arguments in terms of phase-ordering efficiency, and suggests a broader connection between fine-tuning and emergent collective dynamics in the early Universe. |
| title | Axion misalignment as a synchronization phenomenon |
| topic | Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07836 |