Exploring String Axions with Astrophysics and Cosmology

by Prof. John March-Russell (Physics Department, University of Oxford)

Tuesday 1 Sept 2009, 16:30 → 17:30 Europe/Zurich

Main Auditorium** (CERN)

String theory suggests the simultaneous presence of many ultralight axions, possibly populating each decade of mass down to the Hubble scale $10^{-33}$eV. Conversely the presence of such a plenitude of axions (an ``axiverse") would be evidence for string theory, since it arises due to the topological complexity of the extra-dimensional manifold and is ad hoc in a theory with just the four familiar dimensions. We investigate how several upcoming astrophysical experiments will be observationally exploring the possible existence of such axions over a vast mass range from $ 10^{-33}$eV to $ 10^{-10}$eV. Axions with masses between $ 10^{-33}$eV to $ 10^{-28}$eV can cause a rotation of the CMB polarization that is constant throughout the sky. The predicted rotation angle is independent of the scale of inflation and the axion decay constant, and is within reach of the just launched Planck satellite. Axions in the mass range $ 10^{-28}$eV to $ 10^{-18}$eV give rise to multiple steps in the matter power spectrum, providing us with a snapshot of the axiverse that will be probed by galaxy surveys--such as BOSS, and 21 cm line tomography. Axions in the mass range $10^{-22}$eV to $ 10^{-10}$eV can affect the dynamics and gravitational wave emission of rapidly rotating astrophysical black holes through the Penrose superradiance process. When the axion Compton wavelength is of order of the black hole size, the axions develop ``superradiant" atomic bound states around the black hole ``nucleus". Their occupation number grows exponentially by extracting rotational energy and angular momentum from the ergosphere. For black holes lighter than $\sim10^7$ solar masses accretion cannot replenish the spin of the black hole, creating mass gaps in the spectrum of rapidly rotating black holes that diagnose the presence of destabilizing axions. In particular, the highly rotating black hole in the X-ray binary LMC X-1 implies an upper limit on the decay constant of the QCD axion $2\times 10^{17}$GeV, much below the Planck mass. This reach can be improved down to the grand unification scale, the natural string theory value, by observing smaller stellar mass black holes.

Joint EP/PP seminar - 2009 http://smaria.home.cern.ch/smaria/ppep/ppep.htm

Poster EPPPSeminar01092009.pdf

Slides cern_jmr.pdf