Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Georgios K. Karananas

Publications and source records attributed to Georgios K. Karananas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

A scaling non-compact QCD axion

We present a dynamical mechanism for the erasure of inflationary isocurvature perturbations of the non-compact QCD axion. The key ingredient is an early-time runaway exponential potential, which drives the axion onto the well-known scaling cosmological attractor after inflation. Once on the attractor, the axion tracks the dominant component of the Universe, radiation, and isocurvature modes are erased even if the field is effectively massless during inflation. When the QCD potential turns on, the axion carries nonzero velocity, and kinetic misalignment can become operative. The exponential potential induces residual CP violation, potentially accessible to future electric dipole moment searches. This mechanism requires that the axion be effectively non-compact over the field range relevant for its post-inflationary evolution.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2026

QCD axion from broken scale symmetry

A consistent non-compact axion cosmology requires a non-periodic field, an effective field theory valid sufficiently above the inflationary scale, and a small non-QCD contribution to the potential that tilts the axionic vacuum landscape in order to trigger a timely domain-wall collapse. All conditions can be met by the dilaton -- the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson of spontaneously broken approximate scale invariance.

hep-th↗
arXiv2026

Three-form lifting of dilaton flat direction without and with gravity

Spontaneous scale symmetry breaking is commonly associated with a flat direction in the action. We show that this need not be so if the dilaton is coupled to a three-form field in a manner compatible with gauge invariance and dilatations. The resulting effective dynamics lifts the flat direction without introducing explicit scale-violating operators. When gravity is included, the corresponding potential takes the form of an exponential plateau.

hep-th↗
arXiv2025

A non-compact QCD axion

We investigate the cosmology of an axion that is fundamentally non-compact. During inflation, fluctuations of the effectively massless field populate many QCD vacua, thereby evading conventional isocurvature constraints while generating domain walls -- without accompanying cosmic strings. A small non-QCD contribution to the axion potential is required to trigger the timely collapse of domain walls; as a consequence, a residual amount of CP violation in the strong sector must exist, potentially within reach of planned experiments. Non-compact axions can account for the entirety of the dark matter abundance, and the collapse of domain walls sources a stochastic gravitational-wave background at nanohertz frequencies. Such axion dynamics can be embedded in top-down constructions -- such as Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity -- where the tilting of the axion potential arises automatically.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2025

Higgs inflation in Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity

In this short note we analyze the inflationary dynamics in Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity coupled to the Standard Model of particle physics. We take the axion-like particle of gravitational origin to be approximately massless in the early Universe and show how inflation with the Higgs field materializes.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2025

On the Gravitational Origin of the QCD Axion

Gravity can give rise to (pseudo)scalar fields, for instance due to torsion. In particular, axions of gravitational origin have been proposed as a minimal and compelling solution to the strong CP problem. In this work, we critically examine the feasibility of this approach. We demonstrate that models in which the scalar field couples to fermionic currents only through derivatives do not yield a satisfactory axion. Moreover, we identify the necessary conditions for generating a gravitational axion through quantum effects, highlighting Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity as a promising theoretical setting.

hep-th↗
arXiv2025

The particle spectra of parity-violating theories: A less radical approach and an upgrade of PSALTer

Due to computational barriers, the effects of parity violation have so far been grossly neglected in gravitational model-building, leading to a serious gap in the space of prior models. We present a new algorithm for efficiently computing the particle spectrum for any parity-violating tensorial field theory. It allows to extract conditions for the absence of massive ghosts without resorting to any manipulation of radicals in cases where the particle masses are irrational functions of the Lagrangian coupling coefficients. We test it against several examples, among which is the most general parity-indefinite Einstein-Cartan/Poincaré gravity that propagates two healthy massive scalars (in addition to the massless graviton). Importantly, we upgrade the PSALTer software in the Wolfram Language to accommodate parity-violating theories. PSALTer is a contribution to the xAct project.

hep-th↗
arXiv2024

The particle content of (scalar curvature)$^2$ metric-affine gravity

Linearizing metric-affine~(scalar curvature)$^2$ gravity -- an ``umbrella'' theory that includes as special cases the metrical, Einstein-Cartan, and Weyl quadratic models -- on top of Minkowski spacetime leads to (numerous) accidental~\emph{gauged}~symmetries. This suggests that the analysis of the spectrum on flat background is hindered by strong coupling effects. Such undesirable symmetries are absent already at the leading nontrivial order in perturbations on non-flat backgrounds, e.g. de Sitter spacetime, which are the appropriate ones for studying the particle dynamics of all these theories.

hep-th↗
arXiv2024

The particle content of $R^2$ gravity revisited

Studying the spectrum of (pure) $R^2$ gravity on Minkowski background inevitably results into a Catch-22: any consistent interpretation of its particle dynamics dictates that no accidental gauge symmetries emerge, a requirement that cannot be fulfilled when the theory is studied on Minkowski. For the case at hand, there is an emergent gauge redundancy corresponding to a transverse-traceless shift of the graviton. This has detrimental consequences since it empties the spectrum from all particle states. Being an artifact of the linearized approximation on top of Minkowski background, the symmetry does not persist at higher orders and degrees of freedom are reintroduced via interactions, making $R^2$ gravity infinitely strongly-coupled. Provided that the theory is considered on appropriate backgrounds -- for instance de Sitter spacetime -- or is supplemented with the Einstein-Hilbert term, $R^2$ gravity propagates the two usual graviton polarizations plus one additional (massless or massive) scalar field. We explicitly demonstrate that in a fully covariant manner.

hep-th↗
arXiv2024

Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity: unifying the strong CP and hierarchy puzzles

We show that the minimal Weyl-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity in combination with the Standard Model of particle physics contains just one extra scalar degree of freedom (in addition to the graviton and the Standard Model fields) with the properties of an axion-like particle which can solve the strong CP-problem. The smallness of this particle's mass as well as of the cosmological constant is ensured by tiny values of the gauge coupling constants of the local Lorentz group. The tree value of the Higgs boson mass and that of Majorana leptons (if added to the Standard Model to solve the neutrino mass, baryogenesis and dark matter problems) are very small or vanishing, opening the possibility of their computability in terms of the fundamental parameters of the theory due to nonperturbative effects.

hep-th↗
arXiv2023

The geometry of inflationary observables: lifts, flows, equivalence classes

The Eisenhart lift allows to formulate the dynamics of a scalar field in a potential as pure geodesic motion in a curved field-space manifold involving an additional fictitious vector field. Making use of the formalism in the context of inflation, we show that the main inflationary observables can be expressed in terms of the geometrical properties of a two-dimensional uplifted field-space manifold spanned by the time derivatives of the scalar and the temporal component of the vector. This allows to abstract from specific potentials and models and describe inflation solely in terms of the flow of geometric quantities. Our findings are illustrated through several inflationary examples previously considered in the literature.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2023

Scale invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity and flat space conformal symmetry

We find the conditions under which scale-invariant Einstein-Cartan gravity with scalar matter fields leads to an approximate conformal invariance of the flat space particle theory up to energies of the order of the Planck mass. In the minimal setup, these models, in addition to the fields of the Standard Model and the graviton, contain only one extra particle -- a massless dilaton. Theories of this type can pave the way for a self-completion all the way up the Planck scale and lead to rather universal inflationary predictions, close to those of the simplest Higgs-inflation scenario in the metric theory of gravity.

hep-th↗
arXiv2023

Field redefinitions, perturbative unitarity and Higgs inflation

For inflation driven by the Higgs field coupled non-minimally to gravity, we study the cutoff energy scale above which perturbation theory breaks down. Employing the metric formulation, we first give an overview of known results and then provide a new way to calculate a lower bound on the cutoff. Our approach neither relies on a gauge choice nor does it require any calculation of amplitudes. Instead, it exploits the fact that the S-matrix is invariant under field redefinitions. In agreement with previous findings, we demonstrate that the cutoff is significantly higher during inflation than in vacuum, which ensures the robustness of semi-classical predictions. Along the way, we generalize our findings to the Palatini formulation and comment on a useful parametrization of the Higgs doublet in both scenarios.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2022

More on the operator-state map in non-relativistic CFTs

We propose an algebraic construction of the operator-state correspondence in non-relativistic conformal field theories by explicitly constructing an automorphism of the Schrödinger algebra relating generators in different frames. It is shown that the construction follows closely that of relativistic conformal field theories.

hep-th↗
arXiv2021

Scale and Weyl Invariance in Einstein-Cartan Gravity

We show how Einstein-Cartan gravity can accommodate both global scale and local scale (Weyl) invariance. To this end, we construct a wide class of models with nonpropagaing torsion and a nonminimally coupled scalar field. In phenomenological applications the scalar field is associated with the Higgs boson. For global scale invariance, an additional field -- dilaton -- is needed to make the theory phenomenologically viable. In the case of the Weyl symmetry, the dilaton is spurious and the theory reduces to a sub-class of one-field models. In both scenarios of scale invariance, we derive an equivalent metric theory and discuss possible implications for phenomenology.

hep-th↗
arXiv2021

Matter matters in Einstein-Cartan gravity

We study scalar, fermionic and gauge fields coupled nonminimally to gravity in the Einstein-Cartan formulation. We construct a wide class of models with nondynamical torsion whose gravitational spectra comprise only the massless graviton. Eliminating non-propagating degrees of freedom, we derive an equivalent theory in the metric formulation of gravity. It features contact interactions of a certain form between and among the matter and gauge currents. We also discuss briefly the inclusion of curvature-squared terms.

hep-th↗