String theory predicts an axiverse of ultralight axions whose effects on CMB polarization, matter power spectrum, and black hole superradiance can be probed by future astrophysical experiments.
Predictive Landscapes and New Physics at a TeV
3 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
abstract
We propose that the Standard Model is coupled to a sector with an enormous landscape of vacua, where only the dimensionful parameters--the vacuum energy and Higgs masses--are finely "scanned" from one vacuum to another, while dimensionless couplings are effectively fixed. This allows us to preserve achievements of the usual unique-vacuum approach in relating dimensionless couplings while also accounting for the success of the anthropic approach to the cosmological constant problem. It can also explain the proximity of the weak scale to the geometric mean of the Planck and vacuum energy scales. We realize this idea with field theory landscapes consisting of $N$ fields and $2^N$ vacua, where the fractional variation of couplings is smaller than $1/\sqrt{N}$. These lead to a variety of low-energy theories including the Standard Model, the MSSM, and Split SUSY. This picture suggests sharp new rules for model-building, providing the first framework in which to simultaneously address the cosmological constant problem together with the big and little hierarchy problems. Requiring the existence of atoms can fix ratio of the QCD scale to the weak scale, thereby providing a possible solution to the hierarchy problem as well as related puzzles such as the $\mu$ and doublet-triplet splitting problems. We also present new approaches to the hierarchy problem, where the fine-tuning of the Higgs mass to exponentially small scales is understood by even more basic environmental requirements such as vacuum stability and the existence of baryons. These theories predict new physics at the TeV scale, including a dark matter candidate. The simplest theory has weak-scale "Higgsinos" as the only new particles charged under the Standard Model, with gauge coupling unification near $10^{14}$ GeV.
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background 2representative citing papers
Phenomenological late-time vacuum-tunneling models are fit to DESI DR2, supernova, and CMB data, allowing up to 50% vacuum-energy drop for z_t < 1 and a preferred z_t ~7 model that converts ~10% dark matter while easing cosmological tensions.
Natural SUSY with axino LSP allows viable mixed axion-axino dark matter matching the observed abundance for axino masses near 100 keV and PQ scales of 10^11 to 3x10^12 GeV in DFSZ and KSVZ models.
citing papers explorer
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String Axiverse
String theory predicts an axiverse of ultralight axions whose effects on CMB polarization, matter power spectrum, and black hole superradiance can be probed by future astrophysical experiments.
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Late-time Quantum Vacuum Decay and its Cosmological Implications
Phenomenological late-time vacuum-tunneling models are fit to DESI DR2, supernova, and CMB data, allowing up to 50% vacuum-energy drop for z_t < 1 and a preferred z_t ~7 model that converts ~10% dark matter while easing cosmological tensions.
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Natural SUSY with mixed axion/axino dark matter
Natural SUSY with axino LSP allows viable mixed axion-axino dark matter matching the observed abundance for axino masses near 100 keV and PQ scales of 10^11 to 3x10^12 GeV in DFSZ and KSVZ models.