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arXiv · 2606.05276

Big Axions

Hannah Banks·Marius Kongsore·Neal Weiner
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Abstract

We introduce big axions: axion models in which a Nambu-Goldstone mode emerges from the collective spontaneous breaking of a network of U(1) symmetries delocalized in theory space. Big axions naturally realize high-quality accidental global symmetries, admit both pre- and post-inflationary cosmological histories, and exhibit rich topological structures that interpolate between ordinary Peccei-Quinn axions and axions which descend from extra-dimensional gauge fields. We identify a minimal phenomenologically viable subclass, little big axions, and demonstrate that they provide a robust solution to the strong charge-parity problem in quantum chromodynamics while potentially accounting for some or all of the dark matter of the universe.

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Hannah Banks, Marius Kongsore, Neal Weiner. 2026-06-03. Big Axions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.05276

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