Cosmic birefringence from a stiff axion field and its cosmological implications

Abstract

We propose a model in which the observed cosmic microwave background birefringence arises from the interaction of photons with a stiff (w=1) pseudo-scalar field that today contributes a subdominant fraction of the total energy density, distinct from both dark matter and dark energy. Big Bang Nucleosynthesis constrains the cosmological density of the stiff field, leading to a lower bound for its coupling with photons, g_ϕγ > 8.9 × 10⁻¹⁴ GeV⁻¹. Photon conversion in cluster-hosted quasars sets an upper bound, g_ϕγ < 5.0 × 10⁻¹³ GeV⁻¹. Therefore, there is a narrow window for the discovery of this cosmological component that can be explored in the forthcoming years with astrophysical axion searches. Moreover, we show that this scenario leads to gravitational-wave signals that can be tested with planned experiments.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{minotti2026cosmic,
  title = {{Cosmic birefringence from a stiff axion field and its cosmological implications}},
  author = {Andrea Minotti and Yunzhi Wu and Tiziano Zanzarella and Nicolao Fornengo and Marco Regis and Marco Taoso},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.27082},
  eprint = {2610.27082},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.27082},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Cosmic birefringence from a stiff axion field and its cosmological implications
AU  - Andrea Minotti
AU  - Yunzhi Wu
AU  - Tiziano Zanzarella
AU  - Nicolao Fornengo
AU  - Marco Regis
AU  - Marco Taoso
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/19
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.27082
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.27082
AB  - We propose a model in which the observed cosmic microwave background birefringence arises from the interaction of photons with a stiff (w=1) pseudo-scalar field that today contributes a subdominant fraction of the total energy density, distinct from both dark matter and dark energy. Big Bang Nucleosynthesis constrains the cosmological density of the stiff field, leading to a lower bound for its coupling with photons, g_ϕγ > 8.9 × 10^−14 GeV^−1. Photon conversion in cluster-hosted quasars sets an upper bound, g_ϕγ < 5.0 × 10^−13 GeV^−1. Therefore, there is a narrow window for the discovery of this cosmological component that can be explored in the forthcoming years with astrophysical axion searches. Moreover, we show that this scenario leads to gravitational-wave signals that can be tested with planned experiments.
ER  -

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