Cosmological Production of Dark Nuclei

We study the formation of Dark Matter nuclei in scenarios where DM particles are baryons of a new confining gauge force. The dark nucleosynthesis is analogous to the formation of light elements in the SM and requires as a first step the formation of dark deuterium. We compute this process from first principles, using the formalism of pion-less effective theory for nucleon-nucleon interactions. This controlled effective field theory expansion allows us to systematically compute the cross sections for generic SM representations under the assumption of shallow bound states. In the context of vector-like confinement models we find that, for nucleon masses in the TeV range, baryonic DM made of electro-weak constituents can form a significant fraction of dark deuterium and a much smaller fraction of dark tritium. Formation of dark nuclei can also lead to monochromatic photon lines in indirect detection. Models with singlets do not undergo nucleosynthesis unless a dark photon is added to the theory.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures. v2) improved discussion on indirect detection, refs adde

Composite Accidental Axions

We present several models where the QCD axion arises accidentally. Confining gauge theories can generate axion candidates whose properties are uniquely determined by the quantum numbers of the new fermions under the Standard Model. The Peccei-Quinn symmetry can emerge accidentally if the gauge theory is chiral. We generalise previous constructions in a unified framework. In some cases these models can be understood as the deconstruction of 5-dimensional gauge theories where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is protected by locality but more general constructions are possible.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure

Back to 1974: The Q\mathcal Q-onium

We show that the 750 GeV di-photon excess could be explained by the ${\mathcal Q}-$onium system of a new QCD-like theory with fermions vectorial under the SM. Beside the spin-0 di-photon singlet this scenario predicts almost degenerate colored scalars and spin-1 resonances analogous to the $J/\Psi$ in QCD. All these states are within the reach of the LHC. An apparent large width can be explained as due to production of excited states with splitting $\Delta m\sim \Gamma$.Comment: 6 pages. v2: QCD effects and splitting of SU(2) multiplets added. v3: final version to appear in PL

Non Pauli-Fierz Massive Gravitons

We study general Lorentz invariant theories of massive gravitons. We show that, contrary to the standard lore, there exist consistent theories where the graviton mass term violates Pauli-Fierz structure. For theories where the graviton is a resonance this does not imply the existence of a scalar ghost if the deviation from Pauli-Fierz becomes sufficiently small at high energies. These types of mass terms are required by any consistent realization of the DGP model in higher dimension.Comment: 4 page

Responsive public space - performative immersive setting in public environments.

Responsive Public Space (RPS) is a performative spatial environment integrating audio-visual composition responsive to the engagement of participants among themselves. In an interdisciplinary collaboration architects, artists, composers and computer vision specialists developed an environment in which participants can enter, move around, and - through interaction with each other - experience different fragments of a space-sensitive soundscape and its visual representation (sonification). A high-end tracking system allows multiple participants to be reliably tracked