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Moduli-induced axion problem

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Abstract

We point out that the cosmological moduli problem is not necessarily resolved even if the modulus mass is heavier than O(10) TeV, contrary to the common wisdom. The point is that, in many scenarios where the lightest moduli fields are stabilized by super symmetry breaking effects, those moduli fields tend to mainly decay into almost massless axions, whose abundance is tightly constrained by the recent Planck results. We study the moduli-induced axion problem in concrete examples, and discuss possible solutions. The problem and its solutions are widely applicable to decays of heavy scalar fields which dominate the energy density of the Universe, for instance, the reheating of the inflaton.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Theory Center, KEK, 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0801, Japan

    Tetsutaro Higaki

  2. Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Kazunori Nakayama

  3. Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

    Fuminobu Takahashi

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  1. Tetsutaro Higaki
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  2. Kazunori Nakayama
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  3. Fuminobu Takahashi
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Correspondence to Kazunori Nakayama.

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Higaki, T., Nakayama, K. & Takahashi, F. Moduli-induced axion problem. J. High Energ. Phys. 2013, 5 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2013)005

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