We discuss models of ultralight scalar Dark Matter (DM) with linear and quadratic couplings to th... more We discuss models of ultralight scalar Dark Matter (DM) with linear and quadratic couplings to the Standard Model (SM). In addition to studying the phenomenology of linear and quadratic interactions separately, we examine their interplay. We review the different experiments that can probe such interactions and present the current and expected future bounds on the parameter space. In particular, we discuss the scalar field solution presented in [A. Hees, O. Minazzoli, E. Savalle, Y. V. Stadnik and P. Wolf, Phys.Rev.D 98 (2018) 6, 064051], and extend it to theories that capture both the linear and the quadratic couplings of the Dark Matter (DM) field to the Standard Model (SM). Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical aspects and the corresponding challenges for natural models in which the quadratic interactions are of phenomenological importance.
Cosmological relaxation models in which the relaxion is identified with the QCD axion, genericall... more Cosmological relaxation models in which the relaxion is identified with the QCD axion, generically fail to account for the smallness of the strong CP phase. We present a simple alternative solution to this "relaxion CP problem" based on the Nelson-Barr mechanism. We take CP to be a symmetry of the UV theory, and the relaxion to have no anomalous coupling with QCD. The non-zero vacuum expectation value of the relaxion breaks CP spontaneously, and the resulting phase is mapped to the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa phase of the Standard Model. The extended Nelson-Barr quark sector generates the relaxion "rolling" potential radiatively, relating the new physics scale with the relaxion decay constant. With no new states within the reach of the LHC, our relaxion can still be probed in a variety of astrophysical and cosmological processes, as well as in flavor experiments.
We discuss composite UV completions of the Nelson-Barr(NB) solution to the strong CP problem. In ... more We discuss composite UV completions of the Nelson-Barr(NB) solution to the strong CP problem. In our construction, the CP symmetry is broken spontaneously by the dynamics of a hidden QCD at θ = π. We focus on the minimal implementation of the NB construction, where the visible sector contains one extra pair of vector-like up/down quarks. We show that the minimal NB theory suffers from a quality problem and discuss how composite UV completions may resolve it. We present a simple calculable scheme, free of a quality problem, where dynamical CP violation in the hidden sector is mediated through a scalar portal to the visible sector, which successfully realizes the NB construction.
We discuss models of ultralight scalar Dark Matter (DM) with linear and quadratic couplings to th... more We discuss models of ultralight scalar Dark Matter (DM) with linear and quadratic couplings to the Standard Model (SM). In addition to studying the phenomenology of linear and quadratic interactions separately, we examine their interplay. We review the different experiments that can probe such interactions and present the current and expected future bounds on the parameter space. In particular, we discuss the scalar field solution presented in [A. Hees, O. Minazzoli, E. Savalle, Y. V. Stadnik and P. Wolf, Phys.Rev.D 98 (2018) 6, 064051], and extend it to theories that capture both the linear and the quadratic couplings of the Dark Matter (DM) field to the Standard Model (SM). Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical aspects and the corresponding challenges for natural models in which the quadratic interactions are of phenomenological importance.
Cosmological relaxation models in which the relaxion is identified with the QCD axion, genericall... more Cosmological relaxation models in which the relaxion is identified with the QCD axion, generically fail to account for the smallness of the strong CP phase. We present a simple alternative solution to this "relaxion CP problem" based on the Nelson-Barr mechanism. We take CP to be a symmetry of the UV theory, and the relaxion to have no anomalous coupling with QCD. The non-zero vacuum expectation value of the relaxion breaks CP spontaneously, and the resulting phase is mapped to the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa phase of the Standard Model. The extended Nelson-Barr quark sector generates the relaxion "rolling" potential radiatively, relating the new physics scale with the relaxion decay constant. With no new states within the reach of the LHC, our relaxion can still be probed in a variety of astrophysical and cosmological processes, as well as in flavor experiments.
We discuss composite UV completions of the Nelson-Barr(NB) solution to the strong CP problem. In ... more We discuss composite UV completions of the Nelson-Barr(NB) solution to the strong CP problem. In our construction, the CP symmetry is broken spontaneously by the dynamics of a hidden QCD at θ = π. We focus on the minimal implementation of the NB construction, where the visible sector contains one extra pair of vector-like up/down quarks. We show that the minimal NB theory suffers from a quality problem and discuss how composite UV completions may resolve it. We present a simple calculable scheme, free of a quality problem, where dynamical CP violation in the hidden sector is mediated through a scalar portal to the visible sector, which successfully realizes the NB construction.
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