Speaker
Description
In this talk I will consider an inflationary universe with non-Abelian gauge fields and axion fields that are in part identified with the standard model of particle physics.
In particular I consider possibilities of an enlarged color group with extra heavy quarks that solves the strong CP problem. When the heavy quarks are integrated out below the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking scale, they generate an axion coupling which makes the non-Abelian gauge field develop slowly during inflation and solves the strong CP problem of QCD after inflation.
In this class of models, the axion mass receives a new non-perturbative contribution from the new confinement scale, which is larger than the inflationary scale.
I then discuss the running of the gauge coupling constants that realizes the observable signal as chiral gravitational waves from inflation.
Finally, I constrain the number of extra heavy quarks in this scenario by future CMB observations.
