Quantum break in models of axion dark matter

Abstract

A system of light axions comprising a classical axion field, one candidate for dark matter, has an instability that can rapidly mix in photon pairs in a coherent fashion if initiated by a quantum break (which eliminates the need for seeds.) Adding more photon states, such as a multiplicity of angles for the case of the axion field at rest, reduces the argument of a logarithmic factor in the mixing time by orders of magnitude. Admitting multiple photon states, all within a window of instability, leads to a synchronization effect that appears to nullify conventional red-shift limitations. Even the fully developed states of the electromagnetic field produced are highly non-classical; they can be looked on as quantum superpositions of different nearly-classical macroscopic systems.