The QCD axion is one of the most appealing candidates for the dark matter in the Universe. In this article, we discuss the possibility to predict the axion mass in the context of a simple renormalizable grand unified theory where the Peccei-Quinn scale is determined by the unification scale. In this framework, the axion mass is predicted to be in the range $m_a simeq (3 - 13) times 10^{-9} rm{eV}$. We study the axion phenomenology and find that the ABRACADABRA and CASPEr-Electric experiments will be able to fully probe this mass window.
We discuss the possibility to predict the QCD axion mass in the context of grand unified theories. We investigate the implementation of the DFSZ mechanism in the context of renormalizable SU(5) theories. In the simplest theory, the axion mass can be predicted with good precision in the range $m_a = (2-16)$ neV, and there is a strong correlation between the predictions for the axion mass and proton decay rates. In this context, we predict an upper bound for the proton decay channels with antineutrinos, $tau(pto K^+ bar{ u}) lesssim 4 times 10^{37} text{ yr}$ and $tau(p to pi^+ bar{ u}) lesssim 2 times 10^{36}text{ yr}$. This theory can be considered as the minimal realistic grand unified theory with the DFSZ mechanism and it can be fully tested by proton decay and axion experiments.
We investigate the possibility to find an ultraviolet completion of the simple extensions of the Standard Model where baryon number is a local symmetry. In the context of such theories one can understand the spontaneous breaking of baryon number at the low scale and the proton stability. We find a simple theory based on SU(4)_C x SU(3)_L x SU(3)_R where baryon number is embedded in a non-Abelian gauge symmetry. We discuss the main features of the theory and the possible implications for experiments. This theory predicts stable colored and/or fractional electric charged fields which can give rise to very exotic signatures at the Large Hadron Collider experiments such as CMS and ATLAS. We further discuss the embedding in a gauge theory based on SU(4)_C x SU(4)_L x SU(4)_R which could define the way to achieve the unification of the gauge interactions at the low scale.
Axion models with generation-dependent Peccei-Quinn charges can lead to flavor-changing neutral currents, thus motivating QCD axion searches at precision flavor experiments. We rigorously derive limits on the most general effective flavor-violating couplings from current measurements and assess their discovery potential. For two-body decays we use available experimental data to derive limits on $qto q a$ decay rates for all flavor transitions. Axion contributions to neutral-meson mixing are calculated in a systematic way using chiral perturbation theory and operator product expansion. We also discuss in detail baryonic decays and three-body meson decays, which can lead to the best search strategies for some of the couplings. For instance, a strong limit on the $Lambdato n a$ transition can be derived from the supernova SN 1987A. In the near future, dedicated searches for $qto q a$ decays at ongoing experiments could potentially test Peccei-Quinn breaking scales up to $10^{12}$ GeV at NA62 or KOTO, and up to $10^{9}$ GeV at Belle II or BES III.
We propose a simple renormalizable grand unified theory based on the $SU(5)$ gauge symmetry where the neutrino masses are generated at the quantum level through the Zee mechanism. In this model the same Higgs needed to correct the mass relation between charged leptons and down-type quarks plays a crucial role to generate neutrino masses. We show that in this model one can satisfy the constrains coming from the unification of gauge couplings and the mechanism for neutrino masses is discussed in detail. The predictions for proton decay are discussed in order to understand the testability at current and future experiments such as Hyper-Kamiokande. This simple theory predicts a light colored octet which could give rise to exotic signatures at the LHC.
We propose a novel approach of probing grand unification through precise measurements on the Higgs Yukawa couplings at the LHC. This idea is well motivated by the appearance of effective operators not suppressed by the mass scale of unification $M_{rm{U}}$ in realistic models of unification with the minimal structure of Yukawa sector. Such operators modify the Higgs Yukawa couplings in correlated patterns at scale $M_{rm{U}}$ that hold up to higher-order corrections. The coherences reveal a feature that, the deviation of tau Yukawa coupling relative to its standard model value at the weak scale is the largest one among the third-generation Yukawa couplings. This feature, if verified by the future LHC, can serve as a hint of unification.