Axion models with high scale inflation

We revisit the cosmological aspects of axion models. In the high-scale inflation scenario, the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is likely to be restored during/after inflation. If the curvature of the PQ scalar potential at the origin is smaller than its vacuum expectation value; for instance in a class of SUSY axion models, thermal inflation happens before the radial component of the PQ scalar (saxion) relaxes into the global minimum of the potential and the decay of saxion coherent oscillation would produce too much axion dark radiation. In this paper, we study how to avoid the overproduction of axion dark radiation with some concrete examples. We show that, by taking account of the finite-temperature dissipation effect appropriately, the overproduction constraint can be relaxed since the PQ scalar can take part in the thermal plasma again even after the PQ phase transition. We also show that it can be further relaxed owing to the late time decay of another heavy CP-odd scalar, if it is present

Inflationary gravitational waves and the evolution of the early universe

We study the effects of various phenomena which may have happened in the early universe on the spectrum of inflationary gravitational waves. The phenomena include phase transitions, entropy productions from non-relativistic matter, the production of dark radiation, and decoupling of dark matter/radiation from thermal bath. These events can create several characteristic signatures in the inflationary gravitational wave spectrum, which may be direct probes of the history of the early universe and the nature of high-energy physics

Instanton operators and symmetry enhancement in 5D supersymmetric gauge theories

Supersymmetric gauge theories in five dimensions often exhibit less symmetry than the ultraviolet fixed points from which they flow. The fixed points might have larger flavor symmetry or they might even be secretly 6D theories on . Here we provide a simple criterion when such symmetry enhancement in the ultraviolet should occur, by a direct study of the fermionic zero modes around one-instanton operators

Quantum near-horizon geometry of a black 0-brane

We investigate a bunch of D0-branes to reveal their quantum nature from the gravity side. In the classical limit, it is well described by a non-extremal black 0-brane in type IIA supergravity. The solution is uplifted to the eleven dimensions and expressed by a non-extremal M-wave solution. After reviewing the effective action for the M-theory, we explicitly solve the equations of motion for the near-horizon geometry of the M-wave. As a result, we derive a unique solution that includes the effect of the quantum gravity. The thermodynamic properties of the quantum near-horizon geometry of the black 0-brane are also studied by using Wald's entropy formula. Combining our result with that of the Monte Carlo simulation of the dual thermal gauge theory, we find strong evidence for the gauge/gravity duality in the D0-brane system at the level of quantum gravity

Quantum M-wave and black 0-brane

The effective action of superstring theory or M-theory is approximated by supergravity in the low energy limit, and quantum corrections to the supergravity are taken into account by including higher derivative terms. In this paper, we consider equations of motion with those higher derivative terms in M-theory and solve them to derive quantum M-wave solution. A quantum black 0-brane solution is also obtained by Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction of the M-wave solution. The quantum black 0-brane is asymptotically flat and uniquely determined by imposing appropriate conditions. The mass and the R-R charge of the quantum black 0-brane are derived by using the ADM mass and the charge formulae, and we see that only the mass is affected by the quantum correction. Various limits of the quantum black 0-brane are also considered, and especially we show that an internal energy in the near horizon limit is correctly reproduced

Vetoed jet clustering: the mass-jump algorithm

A new class of jet clustering algorithms is introduced. A criterion inspired by successful mass-drop taggers is applied that prevents the recombination of two hard prongs if their combined jet mass is substantially larger than the masses of the separate prongs. This “mass jump” veto effectively results in jets with variable radii in dense environments. Differences to existing methods are investigated. It is shown for boosted top quarks that the new algorithm has beneficial properties which can lead to improved tagging purity

Magnetic discrete gauge field in the confining vacua and the supersymmetric index

It has recently been argued that the confining vacua of Yang-Mills theory in the far infrared can have topological degrees of freedom given by magnetic ℤ q $${\mathbb{Z}}_q$$ gauge field, both in the non-supersymmetric case and in the N = 1 $$\mathcal{N}=1$$ supersymmetric case. In this short note we give another piece of evidence by computing and matching the supersymmetric index of the pure super Yang-Mills theory both in the ultraviolet and in the infrared

Curvaton dynamics revisited

We revisit the dynamics of the curvaton in detail taking account of effects from thermal environment, effective potential and decay/dissipation rate for general field values and couplings. We also consider the curvature perturbation generated through combinations of various effects: large scale modulation of the oscillation epoch, the effective dissipation rate and the timing at which the equation of state changes. In particular, we find that it tends to be difficult to explain the observed curvature perturbation by the curvaton mechanism without producing too large non-Gaussianity if the curvaton energy density is dissipated through thermal effects. In particular, we find that if the renormalizable coupling between the curvaton and light elements is larger than the critical value ∼ (mϕ/Mpl)1/2, the curvaton is soon dissipated away almost regardless of its initial energy density, contrary to the standard perturbative decay. Therefore, the interaction between them should be suppressed in order for the curvaton to survive the thermal dissipation

Future prospects for stau in Higgs coupling to di-photon

We study future prospects of the stau which contributes to the Higgs coupling to di-photon. The coupling is sensitive to new physics and planned to be measured at percent levels in future colliders. We show that, if the excess of the coupling is measured to be larger than 4%, the lightest stau is predicted to be lighter than about 200 GeV by taking vacuum meta-stability conditions into account. Such a stau can be discovered at ILC. Moreover, we show how accurately the stau contribution to the coupling can be reconstructed from the information that is available at ILC. We also argue that, if the stau mixing angle is measured, the mass of the heaviest stau can be predicted by measuring the Higgs coupling, even when the heaviest stau is not yet discovered at the early stage of ILC

Dark matter chaotic inflation in light of BICEP2

We propose an economical model in which a singlet 2-odd scalar field accounts for the primordial inflation and the present dark matter abundance simultaneously in the light of recent BICEP2 result. Interestingly, the reheating temperature and the thermal dark matter abundance are closely connected by the same interaction between the singlet scalar and the standard model Higgs. In addition, the reheating temperature turns out to be quite high, TR???1012?GeV, and hence the thermal leptogenesis is compatible with this model. Therefore, it can be one of the simplest cosmological scenarios