Work

Trans-Planckian censorship constraints on properties and cosmological applications of axion-like fields

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: We use the Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture (TCC) to constrain the decay constants f characterizing a set of N identical axion-like fields with cosine potentials, improving upon the precision of other Swampland conjectures and existing string-theoretic arguments. We find that consistency with the TCC requires any such set of axion-like fields to satisfy fN≲0.6Mpl, where Mpl is the reduced Planck mass. We show that this bound makes models of axion-driven inflation incapable of simultaneously producing the required number of e-foldings and the observed scalar spectral tilt. In contrast, we find that models of axion quintessence can be simultaneously compatible with the TCC and observational data, provided that the axions' initial field values are set near the maxima of their potentials to within roughly ±π5f.

Source: Physics Letters B

DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138251

Author: David Shlivko

Institution: Princeton University

Language: English

Topic: Cosmology and Gravitation Theories

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, Simons Foundation

Awards: G1047402240, G2886579126, HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS RESEARCH