Axions in the Dark Dimension

TL;DR

This paper explores the implications of the dark dimension scenario for the QCD axion, predicting a narrow decay constant range and axion mass, with potential observational signatures despite not constituting dark matter.

Contribution

It demonstrates that in the dark dimension framework, the QCD axion's decay constant and mass are tightly constrained, linking them to dark energy and neutrino scales.

Findings

Axion decay constant is constrained to $10^9 - 10^{10}$ GeV.

Axion mass is predicted to be $(1 - 10)$ meV.

The axion parameter range is accessible to near-future experiments.

Abstract

The dark dimension scenario, which is motivated from Swampland principles and predicts a single micron scale extra dimension, suggests a consistent framework for the dark sector of the universe. We consider the implications of this scenario for the QCD axion. We find that in the scenario in which the axion is localized on the standard model brane (which we will argue is natural), a combination of theoretical (being bounded by the 5D Planck mass) and observational constraints forces it to have decay constant in a narrow range $f \sim 10^9 - 10^{10}$ GeV. This corresponds to a mass for the QCD axion of $m_a \sim (1 - 10)$ meV. The axion mass surprisingly coincides with the mass scale for the dark energy, the dark matter tower, and the neutrinos. In this scenario axions are not expected to form a large fraction of the dark matter but nevertheless this range of axion parameters is accessible to observations in near future experiments.