Relaxion Revolutions

In this particular occasion the SPLE-Club will take place in the Red Seminar room. The plan is

11:30 - 12:00  discussion of papers

12:00 - 13:00  seminar by J. Stout  "Runaway Relaxion Monodromy", based on 1610.05320

Abstract: 

We examine the relaxion mechanism in string theory. An essential feature is that an axion winds over N≫1 fundamental periods. In string theory realizations via axion monodromy, this winding number corresponds to a physical charge carried by branes or fluxes. We show that this monodromy charge backreacts on the compact space, ruining the structure of the relaxion action. In particular, the barriers generated by strong gauge dynamics have height exp(-N) , so the relaxion does not stop when the Higgs acquires a vev. Backreaction of monodromy charge can therefore spoil the relaxion mechanism. We comment on the limitations of technical naturalness arguments in this context.

ERC-SPLE organizes a bi-weekly journal club, the SPLE-club, in which IFT members and visitors interested in string model building and related topics gather to discuss recent papers, new results, and enjoy interesting expositions by participants.