Cosmological evolution and particle creation in $R^2$-modified gravity are considered for the case of the dominant decay of the scalaron into a pair of gauge bosons due to conformal anomaly. It is shown that in the process of thermalization superheavy dark matter with the coupling strength typical for the GUT SUSY can be created. Such dark matter would have the proper cosmological density if the particle mass is close to $10^{12}$ GeV.
The conventional Friedmann cosmology is known to be in tension with the existence of stable particles having interaction strength typical for supersymmetry and heavier than several TeV. A possible way to save life of such particles may be a modification of the standard cosmological expansion law in such a way that the density of these heavy relics would be significantly reduced. We study particle creation in the Starobinsky inflationary model for different decay channels of the scalaron. It is shown that in the process of thermalization superheavy stable particles with the coupling strength ty…
We show that, according to the scheme of spontaneous breakings starting from a GUT with symmetry E6, it is possible that either a superheavy particle without ordinary interactions is source of ultra-high energy cosmic rays or a not so heavy lepton mixes with muon explaining the recently observed discrepancy of the anomalous magnetic moment of the latter.
The model of creation of observable particles and particles of the dark matter, considered to be superheavy particles, due to particle creation by the gravitational field of the Friedmann model of the early Universe is given. Estimates on the parameters of the model leading to observable values of the baryon number of the Universe and the dark matter density are made.
We consider a setup where R-parity is violated in the framework of split supersymmetry. The out-of-equilibrium decays of heavy squarks successfully lead to the generation of a baryon asymmetry. We restrict the R-parity violating couplings to the baryon number violating subset to keep the neutralino sufficiently stable to provide the dark matter. The observed baryon asymmetry can be generated for squark masses larger than 10^11 GeV, while neutralino dark matter induces a stronger bound of 10^13 GeV. Some mass splitting between left- and right-handed squarks may be needed to satisfy also constra…
Despite the impressive success of the standard cosmological model, several anomalies defy its triumph. Among them is the so-called lensing anomaly: the Planck satellite observes stronger CMB gravitational lensing than expected. The role of neutrinos in this anomaly has been mostly overlooked, despite their key role in CMB lensing, because in the standard scenario they tend to increase the tension. Here, we show that this strongly depends on the assumed neutrino equation of state. We demonstrate that if neutrinos have yet undiscovered long-range interactions, the lensing pattern is significantl…
Anomaly mediation is a popular and well motivated supersymmetry breaking scenario. Different possible detailed realisations of this set-up are studied and actively searched for at colliders. Apart from limits coming from flavour, low energy physics and direct collider searches, these models are usually constrained by the requirement of reproducing the observations on dark matter density in the universe. We reanalyse these bounds and in particular we focus on the dark matter bounds both considering the standard cosmological model and alternative cosmological scenarios. These scenarios do not ch…
The recently observed ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic rays beyond the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin bound can be explained by the decays of some superheavy $X$ particles forming a part of dark matter in our universe. We consider various discrete gauge symmetries ${\bf Z}_N$ to ensure the required long lifetime ($τ_X \simeq 10^{10}-10^{22} years$) of the $X$ particle to explain the UHE cosmic rays in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with massive Majorana neutrinos. We show that there is no anomaly-free discrete gauge symmetry to make the lifetime of the $X$ particle sufficiently long i…
We show how 21 cm cosmology can test relic neutrino radiative decays into sterile neutrinos. Using recent EDGES results, we derive constraints on the lifetime of the decaying neutrinos. If the EDGES anomaly will be confirmed, then there are two solutions, one for much longer and one for much shorter lifetimes than the age of the universe, showing how relic neutrino radiative decays can explain the anomaly in a simple way. We also show how to combine EDGES results with those from radio background observations, showing that potentially the ARCADE 2 excess can be also reproduced together with the…
By numerically solving the quantum kinetic equations we compute the range of parameters where the $ν_μ\to ν_s$ oscillation solution to the atmospheric neutrino anomaly is consistent with a stringent big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) bound of $N_{eff}^{BBN} \stackrel{<}{\sim} 3.6$. We show that this requires tau neutrino masses in the range $m_{ν_τ} \stackrel {>}{\sim} 4 eV$ (for $|δm^2_{atm}| = 10^{-2.5} eV^2$). We discuss the implications of this scenario for hot+cold dark matter, BBN, and the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background.
We present a supersymmetric model with two dark matter (DM) components explaining the galactic positron excess observed by PAMELA/HEAT and ATIC/PPB-BETS: One is the conventional (bino-like) lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) χ, and the other is a TeV scale meta-stable neutral singlet N_D, which is a Dirac fermion (N,N^c). In this model, N_D decays dominantly into χe^+e^- through an R parity preserving dimension 6 operator with the life time τ_N\sim 10^{26} sec. We introduce a pair of vector-like superheavy SU(2) lepton doublets (L,L^c) and lepton singlets (E,E^c). The dimension 6 operator …
Cosmology in Extended Parameter Space with DESI Data Release 2 Baryon Acoustic Oscillations: A 2$σ$+ Detection of Nonzero Neutrino Masses with an Update on Dynamical Dark Energy and Lensing Anomaly
Supersymmetric models often predict a lightest superpartner (LSP) which is electrically charged and stable on the timescales of collider experiments. If such a particle were to be observed experimentally, is it possible to determine whether or not it is stable on cosmological timescales? Charged, stable particles are usually considered to be excluded by cosmological arguments coupled with terrestrial searches for anomalously heavy water molecules. But when the cosmology is significantly altered, as can happen in models with large extra dimensions, these arguments are in turn significantly weak…
We consider an extension of the MSSM wherein anomaly mediation is the source of supersymmetry breaking, and the tachyonic slepton problem is solved by a gauged U(1) symmetry, which is broken at high energies in a manner preserving supersymmetry, thereby also facilitating the see-saw mechanism for neutrino masses and a natural source for the Higgs mu-term. We show that these favourable outcomes can occur both in the presence and the absence of a large Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) D-term associated with the new U(1). We explore the cosmological consequences of the model, showing that it naturally produ…
Superfluid 3He-A and high-temperature superconductors both have gapless fermionic quasiparticles with the "relativistic" spectrum close to the gap nodes. The interaction of these "relaitivistic" fermions with bosonic collective modes of the order parameter is described by the quantum field theory, which results in a close connection with particle physics. Many phenomena in high-energy physics and cosmology can thus be simulated in superfluid phases of 3He and in unconventional superconductors. This includes axial anomaly, vacuum polarization, zero-charge effect, fermionic charge of the vacuum,…
We discuss dark matter decay mediated by exotically charged particles ("exotics") in a supersymmetric model with two dark matter (DM) components: One is the (bino-like) lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) χ, and the other is a newly introduced meta-stable neutral singlet $N$. $N$ decays to χe^+e^- via a dimension 6 operator induced by a penguin-type one loop diagram with the life time of 10^{26} sec., explaining energetic cosmic e^\pm excess observed recently by PAMELA and ATIC/PPB-BETS. The superheavy masses of exotics (\sim 10^{15-16} GeV) are responsible for the longevity of $N$. The sup…
Gallium and short baseline reactor neutrino experiments indicate a short-distance anomalous disappearance of electron antineutrinos which, if interpreted in terms of neutrino oscillations, would lead to a sterile neutrino mass inconsistent with standard cosmological models. This anomaly is difficult to measure at 1 km baseline experiments because its disappearance effects are degenerate with that of theta_13. The flux normalization independent measurement of theta_13 at Daya Bay breaks this degeneracy, allowing an unambiguous differentiation of 1-3 neutrino oscillations and the anomalous disap…
In a recent paper, we identified a cosmological sector of a flipped $SU(5)$ model derived in the free fermionic formulation of the heterotic superstring, containing the inflaton and the goldstino superfields with a superpotential leading to Starobinsky type inflation, while $SU(5){\times}U(1)$ is still unbroken. Here, we study the properties and phenomenology of the vacuum after the end of inflation, where the gauge group is broken to the Standard Model. We identify a set of vacuum expectation values, triggered by the breaking of an anomalous $U(1)_A$ gauge symmetry at roughly an order of magn…
We review inflationary cosmology in modified gravity such as $R^2$ gravity with its extensions in order to generalize the Starobinsky inflation model. In particular, we explore inflation realized by three kinds of effects: modification of gravity, the quantum anomaly, and the $R^2$ term in loop quantum cosmology. It is explicitly demonstrated that in these inflationary models, the spectral index of scalar modes of the density perturbations and the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be consistent with the Planck results. Bounce cosmology in $F(R)$ gravity is also explained.
Particles with millicharge q and sub-eV mass can be produced in photon-photon collisions, distorting the energy spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background. We derive the conservative bound q < 10^-7 e (as well as model-dependent bounds two orders of magnitude stronger), incompatible with proposed interpretations of the PVLAS anomaly based on millicharged production or on millicharged-mediated axion-like couplings.
Upon embedding the axion-inflation in the minimal left-right symmetric gauge extension of the SM with gauge group $SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_{B-L}$, [arXiv:2012.11516] proposed a new particle physics model for inflation. In this work, we present a more detailed analysis. As a compelling consequence, this setup provides a new mechanism for simultaneous baryogenesis and right-handed neutrino creation by the chiral anomaly of $W_R$ in inflation. The lightest right-handed neutrino is the dark matter candidate. This setup has two unknown fundamental scales, i.e., the scale of inflation and …
In this work we provide a link between a nearly vanishing cosmological constant and chiral symmetry. This is accomplished with a modification of General Relativity coupled to a topological field theory, namely BF theory by introducing fermions charged under the BF theory gauge group. We find that the cosmological constant sources a chiral anomaly for the fermions, providing a `technical naturalness' explanation for the smallness of the observed cosmological constant. Applied to the early universe, we show that production of fermions during inflation can provide all the dark matter in the unive…
We introduce a duality relation between two distinct branes, a cosmological brane with macroscopic matter and a holographic brane with microscopic gauge fields. Using brane-world cosmology with a single brane in a 5-dimensional AdS5 background, we find an explicit time-dependent holographic correspondence between the bulk metric surrounding the cosmological brane and the N=4 gauge field theory living on the boundary of the Z2-symmetric mirror bulk, identified with the holographic brane. We then relate the cosmic acceleration on the cosmological brane to the conformal anomaly of the gauge theor…
Cosmology cannot rule out the solution nu_mu <-> nu_s to the atmospheric neutrino data and thus only Earth experiments will be able to give a definitive answer. This conclusion holds when a generation of lepton number is taken into account and one assumes that the sterile neutrino is also slightly mixed with an eV-tau neutrino. This result cannot be spoiled by a chaotic generation of lepton domains.
The appearance of scalar/moduli fields in the early universe, as motivated by string theory, naturally leads to non-thermal "moduli cosmology". Such cosmology provides a consistent framework where the generation of radiation, baryons, and dark matter can occur while maintaining successful Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and avoiding the cosmological moduli problem. We present a relatively economical construction with moduli cosmology, building on a variety of string-inspired components (e.g. supersymmetry, discrete symmetries, Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation). We address a range of outstanding pro…
The thermal relic density of the wino-like neutralino dark matter in the brane world cosmology is studied. The expansion law at a high energy regime in the brane world cosmology is modified from the one in the standard cosmology, and the resultant relic density can be enhanced if the five dimensional Planck mass $M_5$ is low enough. We calculate the wino-like neutralino relic density in the anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking scenario and show that the allowed region is dramatically modified from the one in the standard cosmology and the wino-like neutralino with mass of order 100 GeV can …
We analyze the spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies in the timescape cosmology: a potentially viable alternative to homogeneous isotropic cosmologies without dark energy. We exploit the fact that the timescape cosmology is extremely close to the standard cosmology at early epochs to adapt existing numerical codes to produce CMB anisotropy spectra, and to match these as closely as possible to the timescape expansion history. A variety of matching methods are studied and compared. We perform Markov Chain Monte Carlo analyses on the parameter space, and fit CMB multipoles $5…
Particle production in strong electromagnetic fields is a recurring theme in solid state physics, heavy ion collisions, early universe cosmology and formal quantum field theory. In this paper we discuss the Dirac equation in a background of parallel electric and magnetic fields. We review the Schwinger particle production rate, clarify the emergence of the chiral anomaly equation and compute the induced current of charged fermions. We distinguish the contributions from non-perturbative particle production, from the running of the gauge coupling constant and from non-linearities in the effectiv…
We discuss cosmology based on the cuscuton gravity theory to resolve the anomaly of the observational $^4$He abundance reported by the EMPRESS collaboration. We find that the gravitational constant $G_{\rm cos}$ in Friedmann equation should be smaller than the Newton's constant ${G_{\rm N}}$ such that ${ΔG_{\rm N}}/{G_{\rm N}} \equiv (G_{\rm cos}-G_{\rm N})/{G_{\rm N}} = -0.085_{-0.028}^{+0.026} \quad(68 \% \text { C.L. })$ in terms of big-bang nucleosynthesis, which excludes ${ΔG_{\rm N}}=0$ at more than 95~$\% \text { C.L. }$ To fit the data, we obtain a negative mass squared of a non-dynami…
We propose an electroweak model which is compatible with the UV insensitive anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking. The model is an extension of the NMSSM by adding vector-like matter fields which can drive the soft scalar masses of the singlet Higgs field negative and the successful electroweak symmetry breaking is achieved. Viable parameter regions are found to preserve perturbativity of all the coupling constants up to the Planck scale. With this success, the model becomes a perfect candidate of physics beyond the standard model without the FCNC and CP problem. The cosmology is also quite …
We introduce an axion-inflation model embedded in the Left-Right symmetric extension of the SM in which $W_R$ is coupled to the axion. This model merges three milestones of modern cosmology, i.e., inflation, cold dark matter, and baryon asymmetry. Thus, it can naturally explain the observed coincidences among cosmological parameters, i.e., $η_{B}\approx P_ζ$ and $Ω_{DM} \simeq 5~Ω_{B}$. The source of asymmetry is spontaneous CP violation in the physics of inflation, and the lightest right-handed neutrino is the cold dark matter candidate with mass $m_{N_1}\sim 1~GeV$. The introduced mechanism …
Dark matter-baryon interactions can cool the baryonic fluid, which has been shown to modify the cosmological 21-cm global signal. We show that in a two-component dark sector with an interacting millicharged component, dark matter-baryon scattering can produce a 21-cm power spectrum signal with acoustic oscillations. The signal can be up to three orders of magnitude larger than expected in $Λ$CDM cosmology, given realistic astrophysical models. This model provides a new-physics target for near-future experiments such as HERA or NenuFAR, which can potentially discover or strongly constrain the d…
The thermal history of the universe before the epoch of nucleosynthesis is unknown. The maximum temperature in the radiation-dominated era, which we will refer to as the reheat temperature, may have been as low as 0.7 MeV. In this paper we show that a low reheat temperature has important implications for many topics in cosmology. We show that weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) may be produced even if the reheat temperature is much smaller than the freeze-out temperature of the WIMP, and that the dependence of the present abundance on the mass and the annihilation cross section of the…
There is a unique $\hbox{SU(4)}\otimes\hbox{SU(2)}_L \otimes \hbox{SU(2)}_R$ gauge model which allows quarks and leptons to be unified at the TeV scale -- thereby making the model testable and avoiding the gauge hierarchy problem. In its minimal form, this model could quite naturally accommodate simultaneous solutions to the solar and LSND neutrino oscillation data. The atmospheric neutrino anomaly can be easily accommodated by mirror-symmetrising the minimal model. The model also contains three right-handed neutrinos, with masses in the range 1 keV to $\sim$ 1 GeV. We investigate the implicat…
We present a dark sector model addressing both the Hubble tension and the core-cusp problem. The model is based on a hidden Abelian gauge symmetry group with some chiral fermions required by the anomaly cancellation conditions, producing a candidate for the decaying fermion dark matter as a solution to the Hubble tension. Moreover, the sub-keV mass regime and the thermal history of the dark sector help the dark matter candidate resolve the core-cusp problem occurring in the standard $Λ$CDM cosmology.
The U(1)' symmetry associated with a possible heavy Z' would have profound implications for particle physics and cosmology. The motivations for such particles in various extensions of the standard model, possible ranges for their masses and couplings, and classes of anomaly-free models are discussed. Present limits from electroweak and collider experiments are briefly surveyed, as are prospects for discovery and diagnostic study at future colliders. Implications of a Z' are discussed, including an extended Higgs sector, extended neutralino sector, and solution to the mu problem in supersymmetr…
Analysis of EDGES data shows an absorption signal of the redshifted 21-cm line of atomic hydrogen at $z\sim 17$ which is stronger than expected from the standard $Λ$CDM model. The absorption signal interpreted as brightness temperature $T_{21}$ of the 21-cm line gives an amplitude of $-$500$_{-500}^{+200}$ mK at 99\% C.L. which is a 3.8$σ$ deviation from what the standard $Λ$CDM cosmology gives. We present a particle physics model for the baryon cooling where a fraction of the dark matter resides in the hidden sector with a $U(1)$ gauge symmetry and a Stueckelberg mechanism operates mixing the…
The muon- and tau-neutrinos with the mass in the keV range, which are allowed in a low reheating temperature cosmology, can compose the warm dark matter of the universe. A model of four light neutrinos including the keV scale $ν_μ$ and $ν_τ$ is studied, which combines the seesaw mechanism and the Abelian flavor symmetry. The atmospheric neutrino anomaly is due to the $ν_μ-ν_τ$ oscillation. The solar neutrino problem is answered by the oscillation into the light sterile neutrino, where the SMA, LMA, and LOW-QVO solutions can be accommodated in our scenario.
As is well known, the gravitational degrees of freedom contained in $R+ζR^{2}$ (super)gravity lead to Starobinsky's potential, in a one-field setting for inflationary Cosmology that appears favored by Planck data. In this letter we discuss another interesting aspect of this model, related to gravitino production, with emphasis on the corresponding mass spectrum. Assuming that supersymmetry is broken at a very high scale, Super Heavy Gravitino Dark Matter (SHGDM) and Starobinsky's inflation can be coherently unified in a $R+ζR^{2}$ supergravity. Gravitinos are assumed to be the Lightest Supersy…
In a modest attempt to present potentially new paradigms in Cosmology, including its inflationary epoch, and initiate discussions, I review in this article some novel, string-inspired cosmological models, which entail a purely geometrical origin of the Dark sector of the Universe but also of its observed matter-antimatter asymmetry. The models contain gravitational (string-model independent, Kalb-Ramond (KR)) axion fields coupled to primordial gravitational anomalies via CP-violating interactions. The anomaly terms are four-space-time-dimensional remnants of the Green-Schwarz counterterms appe…
