https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09745-x
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Axion quality straight from the GUT
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Padova, Padua, Italy
Received:
1
September
2021
Accepted:
11
October
2021
Published online:
23
October
2021
Composite axion scenarios offer a robust field theoretic justification for the existence of a Peccei–Quinn symmetry of high quality. We present a new class of realizations that are naturally embedded in Grand-Unified Theories, retain asymptotic freedom for all gauge groups, and protect the axion shift symmetry up to operators of dimension 12. Our setup leads to a number of distinctive signatures at low energies. First, additional composite scalars are predicted; some of these are viable dark matter candidates for values of the decay constant that are likely too low for the QCD axion abundance to be relevant. Second, an approximate unification of the Standard Model gauge couplings takes place at the axion scale, while leaving the actual quark-lepton unification at much higher energies as usual. This suggests the existence of GUT relics with Standard Model gauge quantum numbers at potentially accessible scales.
© The Author(s) 2021
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