arXiv subjects

Edward Hardy

Publications and source records attributed to Edward Hardy.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Imperfect axions with no domain wall problem

Post-inflationary axion theories with domain wall number $N>1$ suffer from a domain wall problem. We show analytically, and confirm via simulations, that there is a region of phenomenologically viable parameter space for such theories with additional PQ-violating operators. Contrary to the conventional picture, in such theories the beyond-QCD PQ violation destroys the axion strings before the QCD axion potential becomes cosmologically relevant. This regime is realized for axion decay constants $f_a \lesssim 10^{10} \, \rm GeV$, pointing to a QCD axion mass in the $10^{-3}-10^{-2}\,{\rm eV}$ range. The required additional PQ violation induces a neutron electric dipole moment within two orders of magnitude of the current experimental limit, placing it within the reach of upcoming neutron electric dipole moment experiments.

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arXiv2026

Pre-inflationary QCD axion stars after moduli domination

The growth of adiabatic density perturbations during an era of early matter domination induces $\mathcal{O}(1)$ fluctuations in pre-inflationary QCD axion dark matter across a broad, string-theory-motivated parameter space. Remarkably, at $\Lambda$CDM matter-radiation equality the scale of these perturbations coincides with the quantum Jeans scale, so they collapse to solitonic ``axion stars''. These axion stars have densities up to $10^4\,\mathrm{eV}^4$, and, including their surrounding halos, they contain as much as $50\%$ of dark matter. Direct searches for a smooth axion background can be suppressed, but transient enhancements or indirect astrophysical signals at axion masses $m_a\lesssim 10^{-5}\,{\rm eV}$ would point to a non-standard cosmological history.

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arXiv2026

Metastable cosmic strings are broken at the start

We show that metastable cosmic strings break at early times, either via finite-temperature effects or by attaching to pre-existing monopoles during network percolation. The resulting segments can be initially super-horizon in size and thus persist for a significant amount of time. If the strings do not re-percolate, the network's eventual destruction is typically due to this early-time breaking rather than late-time quantum tunnelling. Survival of strings to epochs probed by NANOGrav requires $m_M^2/\mu\gtrsim 10^3$, where $m_M$ and $\mu$ are the monopole mass and the string tension respectively, over an order of magnitude larger than previous estimates. We also revisit quantum-tunnelling induced breaking. Results from numerical simulations suggest that this occurs mainly at rare high-tension points on the strings, yielding a rate much larger than is usually assumed. We briefly discuss the related scenario of flux tubes in a dark QCD-like hidden sector with dark-quark masses above the confinement scale.

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arXiv2025

High-frequency Gravitational Waves from Superstring Phases in the Early Universe

When moduli roll in the early universe, all physical scales - including string tensions - simultaneously evolve. The dynamics of cosmic string loops with time-varying tension can produce cosmic string loop trackers in which most of the energy density of the universe lies in the form of string loops. This solution can exist as an attractor until the rolling modulus reaches its minimum, when the loops ultimately decay through gravitational wave emission. We explore the spectrum of gravitational waves produced by such string loop trackers. The resulting spectrum is high-frequency and peaks in the GHz regime today. The amplitude of the signal is diluted by any subsequent matter-dominated epochs, and thus the potential observability of the signal crucially depends on the duration of the moduli-dominated epoch that follows once the moduli settle down and oscillate about their minimum.

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arXiv2025

Stellar cooling limits on KK gravitons and dark dimensions

We revisit cooling bounds on light Kaluza-Klein (KK) gravitons, as arise in the dark dimension scenario, considering red giants, neutron stars, and supernovae. In addition to bremsstrahlung, we account for two novel production channels: resonant mixing with the in-medium photon and a pion-induced process in supernovae. The strongest limits arise from SN 1987A, with the emissivity from the pion process exceeding that from bremsstrahlung by a factor of a few. Given present uncertainties, we obtain a bound on the KK mass scale of $m_{\rm KK}\gtrsim 0.6\,{\rm eV}$ $(\gtrsim 500\,{\rm eV})$ for 2 (3) extra dimensions. Improved understanding of the properties of pions in supernovae could strengthen these limits to roughly ${\rm eV}$ $({\rm keV})$. For 1 extra dimension, the bounds are weaker than those from laboratory searches. We also show that constraints from KK graviton decays to Standard Model particles are less stringent than the cooling bounds if there is KK number violation at the level typically assumed in the dark dimension scenario, although these bounds could be strengthened by future observations.

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arXiv2025

Dynamical Systems and Superstring Phases in the Early Universe

We study the string theory dynamics of the volume scalar rolling down an exponential potential during the period between inflation and reheating, in a background of cosmic superstring loops. In the context of the LVS potential, we demonstrate the existence of a novel string loop attractor tracker solution, in which 75% of the energy density of the universe is in the form of a gas of fundamental cosmic superstring loops (a configuration preferred over the standard radiation tracker). On this tracker, it is the continual reduction in the string tension as the volume scalar evolves that makes the loops stable against decay. For more general non-LVS potentials, mixed radiation-loop trackers can also occur.

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arXiv2025

Bracketing the soliton-halo relation of ultralight dark matter

In theories of ultralight dark matter, solitons form in the inner regions of galactic halos. The observational implications of these depend on the soliton mass. Various relations between the mass of the soliton and properties of the halo have been proposed. We analyze the implications of these relations, and test them with a suite of numerical simulations. The relation of Schive et al. 2014 is equivalent to $(E/M)_{\rm sol}=(E/M)_{\rm halo}$ where $E_{\rm sol (halo)}$ and $M_{\rm sol (halo)}$ are the energy and mass of the soliton (halo). If the halo is approximately virialized, this relation is parametrically similar to the evaporation/growth threshold of Chan et al. 2022, and it thus gives a rough lower bound on the soliton mass. A different relation has been proposed by Mocz et al. 2017, which is equivalent to $E_{\rm sol}=E_{\rm halo}$, so is an upper bound on the soliton mass provided the halo energy can be estimated reliably. Our simulations provide evidence for this picture, and are in broad consistency with the literature, in particular after accounting for ambiguities in the definition of $E_{\rm halo}$ at finite volume.

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arXiv2024

Supernova bounds on new scalars from resonant and soft emission

We study supernova cooling constraints on new light scalars that mix with the Higgs, couple only to nucleons, or couple only to leptons. We show that in all these cases scalars with masses smaller than the plasma frequency in the supernova core are efficiently produced by resonant mixing with the in-medium longitudinal degree of freedom of the photon. The resulting bounds are free from uncertainties associated to the rate of emission of the scalar in nucleon-nucleon scatterings, which would otherwise badly affect the Higgs-mixed and nucleophilic scenarios. Heavier scalars that mix with the Higgs or couple only to nucleons are mostly produced by nucleon bremsstrahlung, and we obtain a conservative approximation for the corresponding rate using a soft theorem. We also analyse the impact of different supernova profiles, nucleon degeneracy, trapping and scalar decays on the constraints.

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arXiv2024

Searching for a dark matter induced galactic axion gradient

An ultra-light axion with CP violating interactions with a dark sector and CP preserving interactions with the visible sector can act as a novel portal between dark matter and the Standard Model. In such theories, dark matter sources an axion field extending over the entire galaxy, the gradient of which can be searched for with precise spin precession experiments. A reinterpretation of existing co-magnetometer data already constrains theories that are consistent with astrophysical bounds, and near-future experiments will begin probing well-motivated models. The required interactions can arise from a confining hidden sector without necessitating fine-tuning of the axion's mass.

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arXiv2024

Percolating Cosmic String Networks from Kination

We describe a new mechanism, whose ingredients are realised in string compactifications, for the formation of cosmic (super)string networks. Oscillating string loops grow when their tension $\mu$ decreases with time. If $2H + \dot{\mu}/\mu < 0$, where $H$ is the Hubble parameter, loops grow faster than the scale factor and an initial population of isolated small loops (for example, produced by nucleation) can grow, percolate and form a network. This condition is satisfied for fundamental strings in the background of a kinating volume modulus rolling towards the asymptotic large volume region of moduli space. Such long kination epochs are motivated in string cosmology by both the electroweak hierarchy problem and the need to solve the overshoot problem. The tension of such a network today is set by the final vacuum; for phenomenologically appealing Large Volume Scenario (LVS) vacua, this would lead to a fundamental string network with $G \mu \sim 10^{-10}$.

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arXiv2024

Searching for heavy millicharged particles from the atmosphere

If millicharged particles (MCPs) exist they can be created in the atmosphere when high energy cosmic rays collide with nuclei and could subsequently be detected at neutrino experiments. We extend previous work, which considered MCPs from decays of light mesons and proton bremsstrahlung, by including production from $\Upsilon$ meson decays and the Drell-Yan process. MCPs with masses below a GeV primarily arise from proton bremsstrahlung, while heavier MCPs predominantly originate from heavy meson decays and Drell-Yan. We analyse the resulting single scatter and multiple scatter signals at SuperK and JUNO. Searches for low energy coincident signals at JUNO will be sensitive to MCPs with milli-charges up to an order of magnitude beyond current constraints for MCP masses between 2 GeV and 10 GeV.

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arXiv2024

More Axion Stars from Strings

We show that if dark matter consists of QCD axions in the post-inflationary scenario more than ten percent of it efficiently collapses into Bose stars at matter-radiation equality. Such a result is mostly independent of the present uncertainties on the axion mass. This large population of solitons, with asteroid masses and Earth-Moon distance sizes, might plausibly survive until today, with potentially interesting implications for phenomenology and experimental searches.

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arXiv2023

Early vs late string networks from a minimal QCD Axion

We propose a new regime of minimal QCD axion dark matter that lies between the pre- and post-inflationary scenarios, such that the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is restored only on sufficiently large spatial scales. This leads to a novel cosmological evolution, in which strings and domain walls re-enter the horizon and annihilate later than in the ordinary post-inflationary regime, possibly even after the QCD crossover. Such dynamics can occur if the PQ symmetry is restored by inflationary fluctuations, i.e. the Hubble parameter during inflation $H_I$ is larger than the PQ breaking scale $f_a$, but it is not thermally restored afterwards. Solving the Fokker-Planck equation, we estimate the number of inflationary e-folds required for the PQ symmetry to be, on average, restored. Moreover, we show that, in the large parts of parameter space where the radial mode is displaced from the minimum by de Sitter fluctuations, a string network forms due to the radial mode oscillating over the top of its potential after inflation. In both cases we identify order one ranges in $H_I/f_a$ and in the quartic coupling $\lambda$ of the PQ potential that lead to the late-string dynamics. In this regime the cosmological dark matter abundance can be reproduced for axion decay constants as low as the astrophysical constraint $O(10^8)$ GeV, corresponding to axion masses up to $10^{-2}~{\rm eV}$, and with miniclusters with masses as large as $O(10)M_\odot$.

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arXiv2023

Dark energy with the help of interacting dark sectors

We analyse theories that do not have a de Sitter vacuum and cannot lead to slow-roll quintessence, but which nevertheless support a transient era of accelerated cosmological expansion due to interactions between a scalar $\phi$ and either a hidden sector thermal bath, which evolves as Dark Radiation, or an extremely-light component of Dark Matter. We show that simple models can explain the present-day Dark Energy of the Universe consistently with current observations. This is possible both when $\phi$'s potential has a hilltop form and when it has a steep exponential run-away, as might naturally arise from string theory. We also discuss a related theory of multi-field quintessence, in which $\phi$ is coupled to a sector that sources a subdominant component of Dark Energy, which overcomes many of the challenges of slow-roll quintessence.

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arXiv2022

Post-inflationary axions: a minimal target for axion haloscopes

An axion-like-particle (ALP) in the post-inflationary scenario with domain wall number $N>1$ can be dark matter if the residual $\mathbb{Z}_N$ symmetry has a small explicit breaking. Although we cannot determine the full dynamics of the system reliably, we provide evidence that such an ALP can account for the observed dark matter abundance while having a relatively small decay constant and consequently a possibly large coupling to photons. In particular, we determine the number of domain walls per Hubble patch around the time when they form using numerical simulations and combine this with analytic expectations about the subsequent dynamics. We show that the strongest constraint on the decay constant is likely to come from the dark matter ALPs being produced with large isocurvature fluctuations at small spatial scales. We also comment on the uncertainties on the dark matter small-scale structure that might form from these overdensities, in particular pointing out the importance of quantum pressure in the $N=1$ case.

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arXiv2022

Listening for Dark Photon Radio from the Galactic Centre

Dark photon dark matter that has a kinetic mixing with the Standard Model photon can resonantly convert in environments where its mass $m_{A'}$ coincides with the plasma frequency. We show that such conversion in neutron stars or accreting white dwarfs in the galactic centre can lead to detectable radio signals. Depending on the dark matter spatial distribution, future radio telescopes could be sensitive to values of the kinetic mixing parameter that exceed current constraints by orders of magnitude for $m_{A'} \in \left(6\times 10^{-6},7\times 10^{-4}\right)$ eV.

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arXiv2022

Dark Photon Stars: Formation and Role as Dark Matter Substructure

Any new vector boson with non-zero mass (a `dark photon' or `Proca boson') that is present during inflation is automatically produced at this time from vacuum fluctuations and can comprise all or a substantial fraction of the observed dark matter density, as shown by Graham, Mardon, and Rajendran. We demonstrate, utilising both analytic and numerical studies, that such a scenario implies an extremely rich dark matter substructure arising purely from the interplay of gravitational interactions and quantum effects. Due to a remarkable parametric coincidence between the size of the primordial density perturbations and the scale at which quantum pressure is relevant, a substantial fraction of the dark matter inevitably collapses into gravitationally bound solitons, which are fully quantum coherent objects. The central densities of these `dark photon star', or `Proca star', solitons are typically a factor $10^6$ larger than the local background dark matter density, and they have characteristic masses of $10^{-16} M_\odot (10^{-5}{\rm eV}/m)^{3/2}$, where $m$ is the mass of the vector. During and post soliton production a comparable fraction of the energy density is initially stored in, and subsequently radiated from, long-lived quasi-normal modes. Furthermore, the solitons are surrounded by characteristic `fuzzy' dark matter halos in which quantum wave-like properties are also enhanced relative to the usual virialized dark matter expectations. Lower density compact halos, with masses a factor of $\sim 10^5$ greater than the solitons, form at much larger scales. We argue that, at minimum, the solitons are likely to survive to the present day without being tidally disrupted. This rich substructure, which we anticipate also arises from other dark photon dark matter production mechanisms, opens up a wide range of new direct and indirect detection possibilities, as we discuss in a companion paper.

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arXiv2021

More Axions from Strings

We study the contribution to the QCD axion dark matter abundance that is produced by string defects during the so-called scaling regime. Clear evidence of scaling violations is found, the most conservative extrapolation of which strongly suggests a large number of axions from strings. In this regime, nonlinearities at around the QCD scale are shown to play an important role in determining the final abundance. The overall result is a lower bound on the QCD axion mass in the post-inflationary scenario that is substantially stronger than the naive one from misalignment.

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