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Hierarchical masses of quarks and leptons are addressed by imposing horizontal symmetries. In supersymmetric Standard Models, the same symmetries play a role in suppressing flavor violating processes induced by supersymmetric particles. Combining the idea of spontaneous CP violation to control contributions to electric dipole moments (EDMs), the mass scale of supersymmetric particles can be lowered. We present supersymmetric models with $U(1)$ horizontal symmetries and discuss CP and flavor constraints. Models with two $U(1)$ symmetries are found to give a viable solution to the muon $g-2$ anomaly. Interestingly, the parameter space to explain the anomaly will be probed by future electron EDM experiments., Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, published version

We examine the possibility of building a natural non-supersymmetric model of spontaneous CP violation equipped with the Nelson-Barr (NB) mechanism to address the strong CP problem. Our approach is to utilize a doubly composite dynamics where the first confinement of the CFT occurs at the scale of spontaneous CP violation (SCPV) and the second confinement at the TeV scale. A holographic dual description of this 4D set-up via a warped extra dimension with three 3-branes provides an explicit realization of this idea.In this model, radiative corrections to the strong CP phase are well under control, and the coincidence of mass scales, which we generally encounter in NB models, is addressed. Our model also provides an explanation to the quark Yukawa hierarchies, and a solution to the gauge hierarchy problem just as in the usual Randall-Sundrum model with the Higgs being localized on the TeV brane., 9 pages, 5 figures, model updated, published version

In our previous work, we found new types of the cosmic string solutions in the Abelian-Higgs model with an enhanced $U(1)$ global symmetry. We dubbed those solutions as the compensated/uncompensated strings. The compensated string is similar to the conventional cosmic string in the Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen (ANO) string, around which only the would-be Nambu-Goldstone (NG) boson winds. Around the uncompensated string, on the other hand, the physical NG boson also winds, where the physical NG boson is associated with the spontaneous breaking of the enhanced symmetry. Our previous simulation in the 2+1 dimensional spacetime confirmed that both the compensated/uncompensated strings are formed at the phase transition of the symmetry breaking. Non-trivial winding of the physical NG boson around the strings potentially causes the so-called axion domain-wall problem when the model is applied to the axion model. In this paper, we perform simulation in the 3+1 dimensional spacetime to discuss the fate of the uncompensated strings. We observe that the evolution of the string-network is highly complicated in the 3+1 dimensional simulation compared with that seen in the previous simulation. Despite such complications, we find that the number of the uncompensated strings which could cause can be highly suppressed at late times. Our observation suggests that the present setup can be applied to the axion model without suffering from the axion domain-wall problem., 27 pages, 16 figures, version to be published in JHEP

Theories beyond the Standard Model often contain mass scales hierarchically different from the electroweak scale and the Planck scale. It has been shown that such hierarchical mass scales can be realized as typical energy scales of multiple 3-branes in a 5D warped spacetime. We present a mechanism for stabilizing the intervals between the multiple 3-branes in the warped extra dimension, by introducing a single 5D scalar field with brane-localized potentials. We discuss the radion stabilization by solving the Einstein equation and the scalar field equation of motion so that a backreaction effect on the geometry due to the presence of the scalar field is taken into account. Perturbations from the background configuration are then considered with proper identification of multiple radion degrees of freedom. By solving their equations of motion, we compute the mass spectrum of the radion-scalar field system and the radion couplings to brane-localized matter fields, which are found to be suppressed by typical energy scales and radion profiles at the branes. We also compute the mass spectrum of Kaluza-Klein gravitons and their profiles in the extra dimension. Some applications of the setup are briefly described. Our analysis provides a solid ground to build 5D warped extra dimension models with multiple 3-branes., 41 pages, 7 figures; the radion kinetic term corrected but conclusion unchanged

We explore a new framework that furnishes a mechanism to simultaneously address the electroweak naturalness problem and the axion high quality problem. The framework is based on a doubly composite dynamics where the second confinement takes place after the CFT encounters the first confinement and the theory flows into another conformal fixed point. For a calculable example, we present a holographic dual description of the 4D model via a warped extra dimension model with three 3-branes. While the hierarchy problem is taken cared of by the localization of the Higgs fields on the TeV brane just as in the original Randall-Sundrum model, the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is realized as a gauge symmetry in the bulk of the extra dimension to solve the axion quality problem. We introduce a 5D scalar field whose potential at the intermediate brane drives spontaneous breaking of the PQ symmetry. Then, the PQ breaking scale is given by the scale of the intermediate brane and is naturally small compared to the Planck scale. The axion bulk profile is significantly suppressed around the UV brane, which protects the axion from gravitational violations of the PQ symmetry on the UV brane. Our model genuinely predicts the existence of the Kaluza-Klein excitations of the QCD axion at around the TeV scale and relatively light extra Higgs bosons., 27 pages, 7 figures

We study the contributions of supersymmetric models with a $U(1)$ horizontal symmetry and only spontaneous CP breaking to various lepton flavor observables, such as $\mu \to e\gamma$ and the electron electric dipole moment. We show that both a horizontal symmetry and a lack of explicit CP violation can alleviate the existing bounds from such observables. The undetermined $\mathcal{O}(1)$ coefficients in such mass matrix models muddle the interpretation of the bounds from various flavor observables. To overcome this, we define a new fine-tuning measure for different observables in such setups. This allows us to study how naturally the observed IR flavor observables can emerge from a given mass matrix model. We use our flavor-naturalness measure in study of our supersymmetric models and quantify the degree of fine tuning required by the bounds from various lepton flavor observables at each mass scale of sleptons, neutralinos, and charginos., Comment: Minor changes to how random numbers are generated. Conclusions unchanged. Version published in JHEP. 31+18 Pages. 9 Figures. 6 Tables

Recent pulsar timing data reported by the NANOGrav collaboration may indicate the existence of a stochastic gravitational wave background around $f \sim 10^{-8}$ Hz. We explore a possibility to generate such low-frequency gravitational waves from a dark sector phase transition. Assuming that the dark sector is completely decoupled from the visible sector except via the gravitational interaction, we find that some amount of dark radiation should remain until present. The NANOGrav data implies that the amount of dark radiation is close to the current upper bound, which may help mitigate the so-called Hubble tension. If the existence of dark radiation is not confirmed in the future CMB-S4 experiment, it would imply the existence of new particles feebly interacting with the standard model sector at an energy scale of O(1-100) MeV., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; v2: suppression factor for the sound-wave period included, figures updated, conclusions unchanged

We discuss a possibility that a superconformal dynamics induces the emergence of a global $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ symmetry to solve the strong CP problem through the axion. Fields spontaneously breaking the $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ symmetry couple to new quarks charged under the ordinary color $SU(3)_C$ and a new $SU(N)$ gauge group. The theory flows into an IR fixed point where the $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ breaking fields hold a large anomalous dimension leading to the suppression of $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$-violating higher dimensional operators. The spontaneous breaking of the $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ makes the new quarks massive. The $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ symmetry is anomalous under the $SU(3)_C$ but not under the $SU(N)$ so that the axion couples to only the color $SU(3)_C$ and the usual axion potential is generated. We also comment on a model that the $U(1)_{\rm PQ}$ breaking fields are realized as meson superfields in a new supersymmetric QCD., 8 pages, 3 figures, published version

The coherent oscillation of axionic fields naturally drives copious production of dark photon particles in the early universe, due to resonance and tachyonic enhancement. During the process, energy is abruptly transferred from the former to the latter, sourcing gravitational wave generation. The resulting gravitational waves are eventually to be observed as stochastic background today. We report analytical results of this production and connect them to the recent pulsar-timing results by the NANOGrav collaboration. We show an available parameter space, around the mass $m_\phi \sim 10^{-13} \, {\rm eV}$ and the decay constant $f_\phi \sim 10^{16} \, {\rm GeV}$ with a dimensionless coupling of ${\cal O}(1)$, for our mechanism to account for the signal. A mechanism to avoid the axion over-dominating the universe is a necessary ingredient of this model, and we discuss a possibility to recover a symmetry and render the axion massless after the production. We also comment on potential implications of the required effective number of relativistic species to the determination of the present Hubble constant., Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures. Minor changes, citation additions. Version to be published in Physical Review D

An excess in the electronic recoil data was observed in the XENON1T detector. One of plausible explanations for the excess is absorption of a vector bosonic particle with the mass of $2-3\,{\rm keV}$. For this, the kinetic mixing $\kappa\!\sim\!10^{-15}$ of the dark photon with the photon is required if the dark photon explains the current DM abundance. We recently proposed a model where the main component DM today is a decaying warm dark matter (WDM) with the life time comparable to the age of the current universe. The WDM decays to a massless fermion and a massive dark photon. This model was originally designed for addressing both the small scale problems which $\Lambda$CDM suffers from and the $H_{0}$ tension. In this letter, we show that the massive dark photon produced by the WDM decay can be identified with the vector boson inducing the anomalous excess in the XENON1T experiment. Depending on a lifetime of the parent decaying WDM, the dark photon could be either the main component or the sub-component of DM population today., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

Detection of electron recoils by dark matter (DM) may reveal the structure of the dark sector. We consider a scenario where a heavier DM particle inelastically scatters off an electron and is converted into a lighter DM particle. A small mass difference between the two DM particles is transferred into electron recoil energy. We investigate the DM-electron interaction mediated by a massive dark photon and evaluate the inelastic DM scattering rate, taking account of the atomic structure. It is found that the scattering rate is significantly enhanced because of the small mass splitting, which allows for a small momentum transfer matched with the size of the electron wave function. We show that there exists a viable parameter space which explains the excess of electron recoil events around 2-3 keV recently reported by the XENON1T experiment., 7 pages, 5 figures, version to be published in Physics Letters B

In this paper, we show that the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry with a good quality can be realized in a simple $B-L$ extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The PQ symmetry is a remnant of the $B-L$ gauge symmetry at the renormalizable level. Besides, the sufficient quality of the PQ symmetry is preserved by a non anomalous discrete gauged $R$-symmetry and a small gravitino mass $m_{3/2}\ll 100$GeV. A viable mass range is $m_{3/2}=\mathcal{O}(1)$eV which allows a high reheating temperature and many baryogenesis scenarios typified by the thermal leptogenesis without any astrophysical and cosmological problems. Such a light gravitino may be tested in the future 21cm line observations., 27 pages, 2 figures

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 $\Lambda$CDM cosmology., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, version published in PRD

Recently, a simple prescription to embed the global Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry into a gauged $U(1)$ symmetry has been proposed. There, explicit breaking of the global PQ symmetry expected in quantum gravity are highly suppressed due to the gauged PQ symmetry. In this paper, we apply the gauged PQ mechanism to models where the global PQ symmetry and supersymmetry (SUSY) are simultaneously broken at around $\mathcal{O}(10^{11-12})$\,GeV. Such scenario is motivated by an intriguing coincidence between the supersymmetry breaking scale which explains the observed Higgs boson mass by the gravity mediated sfermion masses, and the PQ breaking scale which evades all the astrophysical and the cosmological constraints. As a concrete example, we construct a model which consists of a simultaneous supersymmetry/PQ symmetry breaking sector based on $SU(2)$ dynamics and an additional PQ symmetry breaking sector based on $SU(N)$ dynamics. We also show that new vector-like particles are predicted in the TeV range in the minimum model, which can be tested by the LHC experiments., 35 pages, 2 figures

We explore the formation and the evolution of the string network in the Abelian Higgs model with two complex scalar fields. A special feature of the model is that it possesses a global $U(1)$ symmetry in addition to the $U(1)$ gauge symmetry. Both symmetries are spontaneously broken by the vacuum expectation values of the two complex scalar fields. As we will show the dynamics of the string network is quite rich compared with that in the ordinary Abelian Higgs model with a single complex scalar field. In particular, we find a new type of string solutions in addition to the conventional Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen (local) string solution. We call this the uncompensated string. An isolated uncompensated string has a logarithmic divergent string tension as in the case of the global strings, although it is accompanied by a non-trivial gauge field configuration. We also perform classical lattice simulations in the $2+1$ dimensional spacetime, which confirms the formation of the uncompensated strings at the phase transition. We also find that most of the uncompensated strings evolve into the local strings at later time when the gauge charge of the scalar field with a smaller vacuum expectation value is larger than that of the scalar field with a larger vacuum expectation value., 27 pages, 7 figures, 1 table

We discuss new mechanisms to stop the relaxion field during inflation. They can be realized in a generic model, including the original model but in a quite different parameter region. We consider a fast-rolling relaxion field, which can go over the bumps created by QCD-like dynamics. Then, in one of the mechanisms, we stop it with a parametric resonance of the Higgs field. The mechanisms are free from a super-Planckian field excursion or a gigantic number of e-folds of inflation. The relaxion has a mass around the weak scale and mixes with the Higgs boson, which enhances the testability of our mechanisms., 58 pages, 12 figures; added Appendix D; published version

The domain wall problem and the isocurvature problem restrict possible combinations of axion models and inflation models. In this paper, we considered a new mechanism which solves those problems by dynamics of multiple scalar fields during/after inflation. The mechanism makes axion models with a non-trivial domain wall number compatible with inflation models with a large Hubble parameter, $H_{I} \gg 10^{7\mbox{-}8}\,$GeV. The mechanism also avoids the isocurvature problem. This mechanism increases the freedom of choice of combinations of axion models and inflation models., 27 pages, 4 figures

We present a model in which the question about a nature of the dark energy and the recently raised Hubble tension can be addressed at once. We consider the electroweak axion in the minimal supersymmetric standard model where the axion energy density is identified with the observed dark energy. Along with this, imposing a gauged $Z_{10}$ symmetry makes it possible to have a gravitino dark matter whose mass amounts to $\sim\mathcal{O}(1)\,\,{\rm GeV}$. We find that the gravitino with mass $\sim\mathcal{O}(1)\,\,{\rm GeV}$ can be a good candidate of a decaying dark matter of which decay after recombination can reconcile discrepancy in local measurements of the Hubble expansion rate $H_{0}$ and that inferred from the cosmic microwave background observation., 4 pages, 3 figures, version published in PLB

The Split-Family supersymmetry is a model in which the sfermion masses of the first two generations are in $\mathcal{O}(100\text{-}1000)$ GeV while that of the third one is in $\mathcal{O}(10)$TeV. With such a hierarchical spectrum, the deviation of the muon $g-2$ and the observed Higgs boson mass are explained simultaneously. In this paper, we revisit the Split-Family SUSY model in light of the updated LHC constraints. We also study the flavor changing neutral current problems in the model. As we will show, the problems do not lead to stringent constraints when the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix is the only source of the flavor mixing. We also study how large flavor mixing in the supersymmetry breaking parameters is allowed., Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures

Q-balls formed from the Affleck-Dine field have rich cosmological implications and have been extensively studied from both theoretical and simulational approaches. From the theoretical point of view, the exact solution of the Q-ball was obtained and it shows a circular orbit in the complex plane of the field value. In practice, however, it is reported that the Q-ball that appears after the Affleck-Dine mechanism has an $elliptical$ orbit, which carries larger energy per unit $U(1)$ charge than the well-known solution with a circular orbit. We call them "elliptical" Q-balls. In this paper, we report the first detailed investigation of the properties of the elliptical Q-balls by $3$D lattice simulation. The simulation results indicate that the elliptical Q-ball has an almost spherical spatial profile with no nodes, and we observed a highly elliptic orbit that cannot be described through small perturbations around the ground state Q-ball. Higher ellipticity leads to more excitation of the energy, whose relation is also derived as a dispersion relation. Finally, we derive two types of approximate solutions by extending the Gaussian approximation and considering the time-averaged equation of motion and we also show the consistency with the simulation results., Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures

The Peccei-Quinn (PQ) solution to the strong $CP$ problem requires an anomalous global $U(1)$ symmetry, the PQ symmetry. The origin of such a convenient global symmetry is quite puzzling from the theoretical point of view in many aspects. In this paper, we propose a simple prescription which provides an origin of the PQ symmetry. There, the global $U(1)$ PQ symmetry is virtually embedded in a gauged $U(1)$ PQ symmetry. Due to its simplicity, this mechanism can be implemented in many conventional models with the PQ symmetry., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figures

We revisit the long-standing problem of supersymmetric grand unified theory (GUT), the doublet-triplet splitting problem. We discuss whether symmetry which controls the {\mu} term in the minimal supersymmetric standard model is compatible with GUT. We find that the symmetry must be broken at the GUT scale. A similar argument also shows that the R symmetry, which is important for low energy supersymmetry, must be broken down to a Z2R symmetry at the GUT scale. We propose a new prescription to achieve the doublet-triplet splitting by symmetry. There, the symmetry which controls the {\mu} term is spontaneously broken at the GUT scale by order parameters which are charged under other symmetries. Bilinear terms of triplet Higgses are charged under the other symmetries, while those of doublet Higgses are not. Then triplet Higgses directly couple to the order parameters and hence obtain GUT scale masses, while doublet Higgses obtain suppressed masses. The broken R symmetry can be also effectively preserved by a similar prescription. As a demonstration, we construct an SU(5)$\times$SU(5) GUT model. We also comment on unification of yukawa couplings., Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures

We discuss a simple model of thermal relic dark matter whose mass can be much larger than the so-called unitarity limit on the mass of point-like particle dark matter. The model consists of new strong dynamics with one flavor of fermions in the fundamental representation which is much heavier than the dynamical scale of the new strong dynamics. Dark matter is identified with the lightest baryonic hadron of the new dynamics. The baryonic hadrons annihilate into the mesonic hadrons of the new strong dynamics when they have large radii. Resultantly, thermal relic dark matter with a mass in the PeV range is possible., Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures

In this paper, we revisit the gravitino dark matter scenario in the presence of the bilinear $R$-parity violating interaction. In particular, we discuss a consistency with the thermal leptogenesis. For a high reheating temperature required for the thermal leptogenesis, the gravitino dark matter tends to be overproduced, which puts a severe upper limit on the gluino mass. As we will show, a large portion of parameter space of the gravitino dark matter scenario has been excluded by combining the constraints from the gravitino abundance and the null results of the searches for the superparticles at the LHC experiments. In particular, the models with the stau (and other charged slepton) NLSP has been almost excluded by the searches for the long-lived charged particles at the LHC unless the required reheating temperature is somewhat lowered by assuming, for example, a degenerated right-handed neutrino mass spectrum., Comment: 26 pages, 5 figures