Gauging Axionic Symmetries and Dark Matter: In memory of George Lazarides
TLDR
Revisits gauged axion cosmology, connecting anomalous gauge symmetries, Stueckelberg fields, and dark matter, differing from standard Peccei-Quinn axions.
Key contributions
- Revisits gauged axion cosmology, linking anomalous gauge symmetries and dark matter.
- Stueckelberg pseudoscalar restores gauge invariance via Wess-Zumino counterterms.
- Gauged axions have a unique cosmological history, appearing after Higgs-Stueckelberg mixing.
- Can form dark matter if the Stueckelberg scale is sufficiently large, unlike Peccei-Quinn axions.
Why it matters
This paper offers a fresh perspective on axion models by integrating their vacuum and gauge structures, providing an alternative dark matter candidate. It highlights a distinct cosmological history for gauged axions, appearing after Higgs-Stueckelberg mixing. This work builds on George Lazarides' insights, linking particle physics to the early universe.
Original Abstract
These notes are written for a memorial Session dedicated to George Lazarides. They revisit a joint work on the cosmology of a gauged axion and place it in a broader line of ideas connecting anomalous gauge symmetries, orientifold effective actions, Stueckelberg fields and dark matter. In models with an anomalous extra $U(1)$ symmetry, the Stueckelberg pseudoscalar participates in the restoration of gauge invariance through Wess-Zumino counterterms and, after electroweak symmetry breaking, may leave a physical axion-like state. Its cosmological history differs from that of an ordinary Peccei-Quinn axion: the physical field appears only after Higgs-Stueckelberg mixing, is subject to sequential electroweak and QCD misalignment, and can give an appreciable dark-matter relic abundance only when the Stueckelberg scale is sufficiently large. This perspective connects naturally with George's earlier insight that the vacuum structure of axion models must be understood together with the gauge structure in which it is embedded. I dedicate these notes to his memory, with gratitude for the collaboration and for the clarity with which he connected particle physics to the early universe.
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