The axion quality problem: global symmetry breaking and wormholes

A bstract Continuous global symmetries are expected to be broken by gravity, which can lead to important phenomenological consequences. A prime example is the threat that this poses to the viability of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem. In this paper, we explore the impact of wormho...

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Veröffentlicht in:The journal of high energy physics Jg. 2021; H. 1; S. 32 - 28
Hauptverfasser: Alvey, James, Escudero, Miguel
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 07.01.2021
Springer Nature B.V
SpringerOpen
Schlagworte:
Broken symmetry
Classical and Quantum Gravitation
Elementary Particles
Global Symmetries
Gravitation
High energy physics
Nonperturbative Effects
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Quantum Field Theories
Quantum Field Theory
Quantum Physics
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Relativity
Relativity Theory
String Theory
Symmetry
Wormholes
Global Symmetries
Nonperturbative Effects
ISSN:1029-8479, 1029-8479
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Zusammenfassung:A bstract Continuous global symmetries are expected to be broken by gravity, which can lead to important phenomenological consequences. A prime example is the threat that this poses to the viability of the Peccei-Quinn solution to the strong CP problem. In this paper, we explore the impact of wormholes as a source of global symmetry breaking by gravity. We review the current status of wormholes and global symmetries and note that, surprisingly, the axion has a quality problem within non-perturbative Einstein gravity. Although these wormholes lead to a large breaking of global symmetries, we show that their effect is nonetheless relevant for the model building of gauge protected axions. We also find wormhole solutions within two scenarios: (i) an extended global symmetry group within Einstein gravity, and (ii) U(1) wormholes within the low-energy limit of an open String Theory. The former allows us to show that the concept of a global symmetry in General Relativity is somewhat ill-defined. The latter illustrates that for motivated values of the string coupling constant, axions appear to have a quality problem within the open String Theory we consider.
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ISSN:1029-8479
1029-8479
DOI:10.1007/JHEP01(2021)032