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  • Open Access

Constructing a light QCD axion without 1/N tuning

Abhishek Banerjee*, Manuel A. Buen-Abad†, and Anson Hook‡

  • Maryland Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA

  • *Contact author: abanerj4@umd.edu
  • †Contact author: buenabad@umd.edu
  • ‡Contact author: hook@umd.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 075027 – Published 15 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xdyq-b67n

Abstract

We consider axions lighter than what their QCD couplings might otherwise suggest. Starting with a ZN axion, we introduce a small explicit ZN symmetry-breaking coupling between the Standard Model Higgs boson and a reheaton. This small explicit breaking allows us to populate a large portion of the light axion ma−fa plane, removes the 1/N tuning in the ZN-axion, and explains why only our sector was reheated. Because of finite temperature effects, axions of this sort undergo either “rigged” misalignment, where the axion misalignment angle is effectively π regardless of its initial value, or “shuffled” misalignment, where the initial angle is effectively randomized.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 075027– Published 15 October, 2025
  • Received 11 August 2025
  • Accepted 18 September 2025
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