Dynamical clockwork axions

• Published in: The journal of high energy physics Vol. 2017; no. 10; pp. 1 - 34
• Main Authors: Coy, Rupert, Frigerio, Michele, Ibe, Masahiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2017; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Baryons; Beyond Standard Model; Classical and Quantum Gravitation; Clockwork; Couplings; Dark matter; Discrete Symmetries; Elementary Particles; Gauge Symmetry; Global Symmetries; Hadrons; High energy physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Field Theories; Quantum Field Theory; Quantum Physics; Quarks; Regular Article - Theoretical Physics; Relativity Theory; String Theory; Discrete Symmetries; Global Symmetries; Gauge Symmetry; Beyond Standard Model
• ISSN: 1029-8479; 1029-8479
• DOI: 10.1007/JHEP10(2017)002

A bstract The clockwork mechanism is a novel method for generating a large separation between the dynamical scale and interaction scale of a theory. We demonstrate how the mechanism can arise from a sequence of strongly-coupled sectors. This framework avoids elementary scalar fields as well as ad hoc continuous global symmetries, both of which are subject to serious stability issues. The clockwork factor, q , is determined by the consistency of the strong dynamics. The preserved global U(1) of the clockwork appears as an accidental symmetry, resulting from discrete or U(1) gauge symmetries, and it is spontaneously broken by the chiral condensates. We apply such a dynamical clockwork to construct models with an effectively invisible QCD axion from TeV-scale strong dynamics. The axion couplings are determined by the localisation of the Standard Model interactions along the clockwork sequence. The TeV spectrum includes either coloured hadrons or vector-like quarks. Dark matter can be accounted for by the axion or the lightest neutral baryons, which are accidentally stable.