The axion mass in the post-inflationary scenario in a minimal scaling model
Abstract
We calculate the dark matter axion mass in the post-inflationary scenario in a minimal model with a set of classical field theory simulations on 12 2883 grids. In the model, the Peccei-Quinn U(1) symmetry is broken by a complex scalar field at a temperature fa ∼ 1011 GeV, creating a string network. The strings become the boundaries of domain walls at the QCD transition, which draw the strings together and annihilate them. The decay of the strings and domain walls leaves behind axion radiation, with a comoving number density estimated to be 9.48(23)fa2 H*, normalised to unit scale factor when the axion mass is equal to the Hubble rate H*. Using the most commonly quoted lattice results for the topological susceptibility, the dark matter axion mass in this minimal model is 17.46(84) μeV. This corresponds to a symmetry-breaking scale of 3.27(15) × 1011 GeV, and a haloscope resonant frequency of 4.22(20) GHz. We argue that field theory simulations of non-minimal models where the strings have a Higgs condensate or gauge flux, and are annihilated by domain walls, will give axion mass predictions below about 40 μeV.
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BibTeX
@misc{correia2026axion,
title = {{The axion mass in the post-inflationary scenario in a minimal scaling model}},
author = {José Correia and Mark Hindmarsh and Joanes Lizarraga and Asier Lopez-Eiguren and Kari Rummukainen and Jon Urrestilla},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.20801},
eprint = {2609.20801},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20801},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The axion mass in the post-inflationary scenario in a minimal scaling model
AU - José Correia
AU - Mark Hindmarsh
AU - Joanes Lizarraga
AU - Asier Lopez-Eiguren
AU - Kari Rummukainen
AU - Jon Urrestilla
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.20801
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20801
AB - We calculate the dark matter axion mass in the post-inflationary scenario in a minimal model with a set of classical field theory simulations on 12 288^3 grids. In the model, the Peccei-Quinn U(1) symmetry is broken by a complex scalar field at a temperature f_a ∼ 10^11 GeV, creating a string network. The strings become the boundaries of domain walls at the QCD transition, which draw the strings together and annihilate them. The decay of the strings and domain walls leaves behind axion radiation, with a comoving number density estimated to be 9.48(23)f_a^2 H_*, normalised to unit scale factor when the axion mass is equal to the Hubble rate H_*. Using the most commonly quoted lattice results for the topological susceptibility, the dark matter axion mass in this minimal model is 17.46(84) μeV. This corresponds to a symmetry-breaking scale of 3.27(15) × 10^11 GeV, and a haloscope resonant frequency of 4.22(20) GHz. We argue that field theory simulations of non-minimal models where the strings have a Higgs condensate or gauge flux, and are annihilated by domain walls, will give axion mass predictions below about 40 μeV.
ER -