Comments on Axions, Domain Walls, and Cosmic Strings

Axions have for some time been considered a plausible candidate for dark matter. They can be produced through misalignment, but it has been argued that when inflation occurs before a Peccei-Quinn transition, appreciable production can result from cosmic strings. This has been the subject of extensive simulations. But there are reasons to be skeptical about the possible role of axion strings. We review and elaborate on these questions, and argue that parametrically strings are already accounted for by the assumption of random misalignment angles. The arguments are base on considerations of the collective modes of the string solutions, on computations of axion radiation in particular models, and reviews of simulations.