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(01.02) Spotting (String) Axions in the Cosmos
Jacob Leedom (DESY)
01.02.2024 at 16:15
Axions are generic predictions of string compactifications and are one of the most promising avenues to tie UV physics to experiments. However, string axions need not couple directly to the Standard Model and so their detection may depend on gravitational signatures. In this talk, I will describe how "spectator" axions coupled to hidden gauge groups via Chern-Simons interactions could source observable gravitational waves during the inflation. For axions coupled to Abelian gauge sectors, the gravitational wave spectrum displays a multi-peak "forest" whose features depend on properties of the axions. I will also discuss how to embed spectator axions into Type IIB orientifold compactifications and the restrictions imposed on such models from consistency and control requirements, thereby motivating models that may live in the landscape as opposed to the swampland.
Arnold Sommerfeld Center Theresienstrasse 37
Room 348 via ZOOM