Proposal to Detect Dark Matter using Axionic Topological Antiferromagnets

Marsh, David J. E.; Fong, Kin Chung; Lentz, Erik W.; Šmejkal, Libor; Ali, Mazhar N.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.123.121601

Cited by 147 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…We show how new physics at the 1-10 TeV scale can raise T ws so that the axion can constitute a subdominant or correct amount of dark matter. In addition to new heavy states, axiogenesis also favors a small decay constant which is accessible to many axion haloscope and helioscope experiments [74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86]. The evolution of the PQ breaking field reveals nonstandard cosmological eras, which alone may have profound implications for other aspects of cosmology.…”

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confidence: 99%

Axiogenesis

2020

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We propose a mechanism called axiogenesis where the cosmological excess of baryons over antibaryons is generated from the rotation of the QCD axion. The Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry may be explicitly broken in the early universe, inducing the rotation of a PQ charged scalar field. The rotation corresponds to the asymmetry of the PQ charge, which is converted into the baryon asymmetry via QCD and electroweak sphaleron transitions. In the concrete model we explore, interesting phenomenology arises due to the prediction of a small decay constant and the connections with new physics at the LHC and future colliders and with axion dark matter.Introduction.-One of the goals of fundamental physics is to understand the origin of the Universe. For this purpose, the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics needs an extension to explain the cosmological excess of matter over antimatter. Mechanisms to generate the baryon asymmetry have been intensively studied in the literature under the name of baryogenesis [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].The SM also needs an extension to explain the smallness of CP violation in QCD [9] which on theoretical grounds is expected to be large [10]. This is known as the strong CP problem and can be elegantly solved by the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism [11,12]. The so-called the PQ symmetry is spontaneously broken to yield a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson, the axion [13,14]. The PQ symmetry is explicitly broken by the quantum effects of QCD of the Adler-Bell-Jeckiw type [15,16]. The quantum effects give a potential to the axion and drive the axion field value to the point where CP symmetry is restored, solving the strong CP problem. The axion is also a dark matter candidate [17][18][19], which makes the PQ mechanism even more attractive.We discover that when the PQ mechanism is introduced into the SM, the baryon (B) and lepton (L) asymmetries are generated in a wide class of models. We call the following baryogenesis scheme as axiogenesis, which in general includes two main ingredients: 1) an asymmetry of the PQ charge is generated in the early universe as a coherent rotation in the axion direction and 2) the PQ asymmetry is later transferred to the B + L asymmetry via the QCD and electroweak sphaleron transitions. We contrast axiogenesis with other existing baryogenesis models after we introduce a concrete example. (We may convert the B + L asymmetry into the B − L asymmetry by some B − L breaking interaction. The investigation of such a scenario will be considered in a future work [20].)The PQ symmetry is an approximate global symmetry which is explicitly broken by the QCD anomaly. Given that the symmetry is not exact, it is conceivable that the PQ symmetry is significantly broken in the early universe, and the rotation of the axion is induced. In fact, it is expected that quantum gravity does not allow for a global symmetry [21][22][23][24][25] and the PQ symmetry is at best understood as an accidental symmetry explicitly broken by higher dimensional operators [26][27][28][29]. Even when one requires that t...

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confidence: 99%

Axiogenesis

2020

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“…The mechanism allows for axion dark matter with a mass above the prediction of the standard misalignment mechanism. This mass scale m a ¼ Oð0.1 − 100Þ meV is under extensive experimental investigation [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. Other known production mechanisms in this mass range are (1) parametric resonance from a PQ symmetry breaking field [39,40], (2) anharmonicity effects [41][42][43] when θ i approaches π due to fine-tuning or inflationary dynamics [44,45], (3) decays of unstable domain walls [46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53], and (4) production during a kination era [54].…”

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confidence: 99%

Axion Kinetic Misalignment Mechanism

2020

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In the conventional misalignment mechanism, the axion field has a constant initial field value in the early Universe and later begins to oscillate. We present an alternative scenario where the axion field has a nonzero initial velocity, allowing an axion decay constant much below the conventional prediction from axion dark matter. This axion velocity can be generated from explicit breaking of the axion shift symmetry in the early Universe, which may occur as this symmetry is approximate.

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“…E.g. for F (q) ∝ 1/q 2 the sensitivity difference is O (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). Moreover, for lower DM masses the effect is much larger, due to higher sensitivity of the tail of the velocity distribution.…”

Section: Jhep07(2020)081mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently a lot of effort has been dedicated to developing novel detection techniques applicable to sub-GeV DM. These include, but are not limited to electron JHEP07(2020)081 transitions: in atoms and semiconductors [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], superconductors [18][19][20], topological insulators [21,22] and Dirac materials [23][24][25]. Sub-GeV DM can be searched for also via the Migdal effect [26][27][28][29], single phonon [30,31] and magnon [32] excitations in crystals, in superfluid helium [33,34], through dissociation or excitation in molecules [35,36] and also through other methods [37][38][39][40][41][42] proposed recently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of uncertainties in the halo velocity profile on direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter

Hryczuk

Karukes

Roszkowski

et al. 2020

J. High Energ. Phys.

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We use the state-of-the-art high-resolution cosmological simulations by Illus-trisTNG to derive the velocity distribution and local density of dark matter in galaxies like our Milky Way and find a substantial spread in both quantities. Next we use our findings to examine the sensitivity to the dark matter velocity profile of underground searches using electron scattering in germanium and silicon targets. We find that sub-GeV dark matter search is strongly affected by these uncertainties, unlike nuclear recoil searches for heavier dark matter, especially in multiple electron-hole modes, for which the sensitivity to the scattering cross-section is also weaker. Therefore, by improving the sensitivity to lower ionization thresholds not only projected sensitivities will be boosted but also the dependence on the astrophysical uncertainties will become significantly reduced.

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Proposal to Detect Dark Matter using Axionic Topological Antiferromagnets

Cited by 147 publications

References 106 publications

Axiogenesis

Axiogenesis

Axion Kinetic Misalignment Mechanism

Impact of uncertainties in the halo velocity profile on direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter

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