No Arabic abstract
Hydrogen oscillation into a dark-sector state $H$ has recently been proposed as a novel mechanism through which hydrogen can be cooled during the dark ages -- without direct couplings between the Standard Model and dark matter. In this work we demonstrate that the requisite mixing can appear naturally from a microphysical theory, and argue that the startling deviations from standard cosmology are nonetheless consistent with observations. A symmetric mirror model enforces the necessary degeneracy between $H$ and $H$, and an additional twisted $B+L$ symmetry dictates that $H$-$H$ mixing is the leading connection between the sectors. We write down a UV completion where $sim$ TeV-scale leptoquarks generate the partonic dimension-12 mixing operator, thus linking to the energy frontier. With half of all $H$ atoms oscillating into $H$, the composition of the universe is scandalously different during part of its history. We qualitatively discuss structure formation: both the modifications to it in the Standard Model sector and the possibility of it in the mirror sector, which has recently been proposed as a resolution to the puzzle of early supermassive black holes. While the egregious loss of SM baryons mostly self-erases during reionization, to our knowledge this is the first model that suggests there should be missing baryons in the late universe, and highly motivates a continued, robust observational program of high-precision searches for cosmic baryons.
A number of proposed and ongoing experiments search for axion dark matter with a mass nearing the limit set by small scale structure (${cal O} ( 10 ^{ - 21 } {rm eV} ) $). We consider the late universe cosmology of these models, showing that requiring the axion to have a matter-power spectrum that matches that of cold dark matter constrains the magnitude of the axion couplings to the visible sector. Comparing these limits to current and future experimental efforts, we find that many searches require axions with an abnormally large coupling to Standard Model fields, independently of how the axion was populated in the early universe. We survey mechanisms that can alleviate the bounds, namely, the introduction of large charges, various forms of kinetic mixing, a clockwork structure, and imposing a discrete symmetry. We provide an explicit model for each case and explore their phenomenology and viability to produce detectable ultralight axion dark matter.
Hidden monopole is a plausible dark matter candidate due to its stability, but its direct experimental search is extremely difficult due to feeble interactions with the standard model particles in the minimal form. Then, we introduce an axion, $a$, connecting the hidden monopole and the standard model particles and examine the current limits and future prospects of direct dark matter searches and beam-dump experiments. We find two parameter regions around $m_a = {cal O}(10)$ MeV, $f_a = {cal O}(10^{5})$ GeV and $m_a = {cal O}(100)$ MeV, $f_a = {cal O}(10^{4})$ GeV where monopole dark matter and the axion are respectively within the reach of the future experiments such as PICO-500 and SHiP. We also note that the hidden photons mainly produced by the axion decay contribute to dark radiation with $Delta N_{rm eff} simeq 0.6$ which can relax the $H_0$ tension.
We show that in a special class of dark sector models, the hydrogen atom can serve as a portal to new physics, through its decay occurring in abundant populations in the Sun and on Earth. The large fluxes of hydrogen decay daughter states can be detected via their decay or scattering. By constructing two models for either detection channel, we show that the recently reported excess in electron recoils at XENON1T could be explained by such signals in large regions of parameter space unconstrained by proton and hydrogen decay limits.
This tutorial provides an intuitive and concrete description of the phenomena of electromagnetic nonreciprocity that will be useful for readers with engineering or physics backgrounds. The notion of time reversal and its different definitions are discussed with special emphasis to its relationship with the reciprocity concept. Starting from the Onsager reciprocal relations generally applicable to many physical processes, we present the derivation of the Lorentz theorem and discuss other implications of reciprocity for electromagnetic systems. Next, we identify all possible routes towards engineering nonreciprocal devices and analyze in detail three of them: Based on external bias, based on nonlinear and time-variant systems. The principles of the operation of different nonreciprocal devices are explained. We address the similarity and fundamental difference between nonreciprocal effects and asymmetric transmission in reciprocal systems. In addition to the tutorial description of the topic, the manuscript also contains original findings. In particular, general classification of reciprocal and nonreciprocal phenomena in linear bianisotropic media based on the space- and time-reversal symmetries is presented. This classification serves as a powerful tool for drawing analogies between seemingly distinct effects having the same physical origin and can be used for predicting novel electromagnetic phenomena. Furthermore, electromagnetic reciprocity theorem for time-varying systems is derived and its applicability is discussed.
The subject of cosmological backreaction in General Relativity is often approached by coordinate-dependent and metric-based analyses. We present in this letter an averaging formalism for the scalar parts of Einsteins equations that is coordinate-independent and only functionally depends on a metric. This formalism is applicable to general 3+1 foliations of spacetime for an arbitrary fluid with tilted flow. We clarify the dependence on spacetime foliation and argue that this dependence is weak in cosmological settings. We also introduce a new set of averaged equations that feature a global cosmological time despite the generality of the setting, and we put the statistical nature of effective cosmologies into perspective.