Early universe dynamics of PQ field with very small self-coupling and its implications for axion dark matter

Axion-like particles (ALPs) are often considered as good candidates for dark matter. Several mechanisms generating relic abundance of ALP dark matter have been proposed. They may involve processes which take place before, during or after cosmic inflation. In all cases an important role is played by the potential of the corresponding Peccei-Quinn (PQ) field. Quite often this potential is assumed to be dominated by a quartic term with a very small coupling. We show that in such situation it is crucial to take into account different kinds of corrections especially in models in which the PQ field evolves during and after inflation. We investigate how such evolution changes due to radiative, thermal and geometric corrections. In many cases those changes are very important and result in strong modifications of the predictions of a model. They may strongly influence the amount of ALP contributions to cold and warm components of dark matter as well as the power spectrum of associated isocurvature perturbations. Models with a quasi-supersymmetric spectrum of particles to which the PQ field couples seem to be especially interesting. Qualitative features of such models are discussed with the help of approximate analytical formulae. However, the dynamics of the PQ field with the considered corrections taken into account is more complicated than in the case without corrections so dedicated numerical calculations are necessary to obtain precise predictions. We present such results for some characteristic benchmark points in the parameter space.Comment: Discussion of axion relic density extended with results of numerical calculations added, references added. This is the Accepted Manuscript version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. Neither SISSA Medialab Srl nor IOP Publishing Ltd is responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from i

Generalization of Einstein-Lovelock theory to higher order dilaton gravity

A higher order theory of dilaton gravity is constructed as a generalization of the Einstein-Lovelock theory of pure gravity. Its Lagrangian contains terms with higher powers of the Riemann tensor and of the first two derivatives of the dilaton. Nevertheless, the resulting equations of motion are quasi-linear in the second derivatives of the metric and of the dilaton. This property is crucial for the existence of brane solutions in the thin wall limit. At each order in derivatives the contribution to the Lagrangian is unique up to an overall normalization. Relations between symmetries of this theory and the O(d,d) symmetry of the string-inspired models are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, references added, version to be publishe

Relic Abundance of Neutralinos in Heterotic String Theory: Weak Coupling vs. Strong Coupling

The relic abundance of stable neutralinos is investigated in $E_8 \times E_8'$ heterotic string theory when supersymmetry is spontaneously broken by hidden-sector gaugino condensates. In the weak coupling regime, very large scalar masses (compared to gaugino masses) are shown to lead to a too large relic abundance of the neutralinos, incompatible with cosmological observations in most of parameter space. The problem does not arise in the strong coupling regime (heterotic M-theory) because there scalar and gaugino masses are generically of the same order of magnitude.Comment: 24 pages, latex, no figure

Haggling over the fine-tuning price

We amplify previous discussions of the fine-tuning price to be paid by supersymmetric models in the light of LEP data, especially the lower bound on the Higgs boson mass, studying in particular its power of discrimination between different parameter regions and different theoretical assumptions. The analysis is performed using the full one-loop effective potential. The whole range of $\tan\beta$ is discussed, including large values. In the minimal supergravity model with universal gaugino and scalar masses, a small fine-tuning price is possible only for intermediate values of $\tan\beta$. However, the fine-tuning price in this region is significantly higher if we require $b-\tau$ Yukawa-coupling unification. On the other hand, price reductions are obtained if some theoretical relation between MSSM parameters is assumed, in particular between $\mu_0$, $M_{1/2}$ and $A_0$. Significant price reductions are obtained for large $\tan\beta$ if non-universal soft Higgs mass parameters are allowed. Nevertheless, in all these cases, the requirement of small fine tuning remains an important constraint on the superpartner spectrum. We also study input relations between MSSM parameters suggested in some interpretations of string theory: the price may depend significantly on these inputs, potentially providing guidance for building string models. However, in the available models the fine-tuning price may not be reduced significantly.Comment: 35 pages, 16 figure