Searching for axions and ALPs from string theory
Abstract
We review searches for closed string axions and axion-like particles (ALPs) in IIB string flux compactifications. For natural values of the background fluxes and TeV scale gravitino mass, the moduli stabilisation mechanism of the LARGE Volume Scenario predicts the existence of a QCD axion candidate with intermediate scale decay constant, fa ~ 109 ... 1012 GeV, associated with the small cycles wrapped by the branes hosting the visible sector, plus a nearly massless and nearly decoupled ALP associated with the LARGE cycle. In setups where the visible sector branes are wrapping more than the minimum number of two intersecting cycles, there are more ALPs which have approximately the same decay constant and coupling to the photon as the QCD axion candidate, but which are exponentially lighter. There are exciting phenomenological opportunities to search for these axions and ALPs in the near future. For fa ~ 1011 ... 1012 GeV, the QCD axion can be the dominant part of dark matter and be detected in haloscopes exploiting microwave cavities. For fa ~ 109 ... 1010 GeV, the additional ALPs could explain astrophysical anomalies and be searched for in the upcoming generation of helioscopes and light-shining-through-a-wall experiments.