High Quality QCD Axion via Electric-Magnetic Duality

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new approach to the QCD axion using electric-magnetic duality in supersymmetric gauge theories, achieving high-quality Peccei-Quinn symmetry and addressing dark matter and strong CP problem.

Contribution

It presents a novel paradigm for the QCD axion leveraging electric-magnetic duality, resulting in suppressed PQ symmetry breaking and viable dark matter candidates.

Findings

Achieves high PQ quality with suppressed explicit breaking.

Predicts observable neutron EDM signals.

Provides a natural solution to the strong CP problem.

Abstract

We propose a novel paradigm for the QCD axion with high-quality Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry on the basis of electric-magnetic duality in the conformal window of a supersymmetric gauge theory. PQ breaking fields, that contain the QCD axion, emerge in the magnetic theory and possess a large anomalous dimension, which leads to not only generation of an intermediate scale of spontaneous PQ breaking but also significant suppression of explicit PQ symmetry breaking operators. The high PQ quality and the absence of a Landau pole in the color gauge coupling are achieved. The parameter space to realize the correct abundance of the axion dark matter (DM) predicts explicit PQ violation which may be probed by future measurements of the neutron electric dipole moment. In the other viable parameter space, the lightest supersymmetric particle can become a DM candidate. Since the model naturally accommodates a mechanism to suppress the axion isocurvature fluctuation, it provides a complete solution to the strong CP problem as well as the identity of DM.