{
  "abstract": "Post-inflationary axion theories with domain wall number $N>1$ suffer from a domain wall problem. We show analytically, and confirm via simulations, that there is a region of phenomenologically viable parameter space for such theories with additional PQ-violating operators. Contrary to the conventional picture, in such theories the beyond-QCD PQ violation destroys the axion strings before the QCD axion potential becomes cosmologically relevant. This regime is realized for axion decay constants $f_a \\lesssim 10^{10} \\, \\rm GeV$, pointing to a QCD axion mass in the $10^{-3}-10^{-2}\\,{\\rm eV}$ range. The required additional PQ violation induces a neutron electric dipole moment within two orders of magnitude of the current experimental limit, placing it within the reach of upcoming neutron electric dipole moment experiments.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2608.27553",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Marco Gorghetto"
    },
    {
      "name": "Edward Hardy"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gilad Perez"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stefan Stelzl"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/43rv6qn0f9zc0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2608.27553",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "43rv6qn0f9zc0",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.27553",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7204795375",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.27553",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-08-27",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/43rv6qn0f9zc0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
      "native_id": "2608.27553",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.27553"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Imperfect axions with no domain wall problem",
  "title_text": "Imperfect axions with no domain wall problem",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/43rv6qn0f9zc0",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}