Axion Kinetic Misalignment Mechanism.

In the conventional misalignment mechanism, the axion field has a constant initial field value in the early Universe and later begins to oscillate. We present an alternative scenario where the axion field has a nonzero initial velocity, allowing an axion decay constant much below the conventional prediction from axion dark matter. This axion velocity can be generated from explicit breaking of the axion shift symmetry in the early Universe, which may occur as this symmetry is approximate.

Natural Twin Neutralino Dark Matter.

Supersymmetric twin Higgs models have a discrete symmetry for which each standard model particle and its supersymmetric partner have a corresponding state that transforms under a mirror standard model gauge group. This framework is able to accommodate the nondiscovery of new particles at the LHC with the naturalness of the electroweak scale. We point out that supersymmetric twin Higgs models also provide a natural dark matter candidate.

Axiogenesis.

We propose a mechanism called axiogenesis where the cosmological excess of baryons over antibaryons is generated from the rotation of the QCD axion. The Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry may be explicitly broken in the early Universe, inducing the rotation of a PQ charged scalar field. The rotation corresponds to the asymmetry of the PQ charge, which is converted into the baryon asymmetry via QCD and electroweak sphaleron transitions.

Asymptotically Free Natural Supersymmetric Twin Higgs Model.

Twin Higgs (TH) models explain the absence of new colored particles responsible for natural electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB). All known ultraviolet completions of TH models require some nonperturbative dynamics below the Planck scale. We propose a supersymmetric model in which the TH mechanism is introduced by a new asymptotically free gauge interaction.

QCD Axion Dark Matter with a Small Decay Constant.

The QCD axion is a good dark matter candidate. The observed dark matter abundance can arise from misalignment or defect mechanisms, which generically require an axion decay constant f_{a}∼O(10^{11})  GeV (or higher). We introduce a new cosmological origin for axion dark matter, parametric resonance from oscillations of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking field, that requires f_{a}∼(10^{8}-10^{11})  GeV.

Chiral Dark Sector.

We present a simple and natural dark sector model in which dark matter particles arise as composite states of hidden strong dynamics and their stability is ensured by accidental symmetries. The model has only a few free parameters. In particular, the gauge symmetry of the model forbids the masses of dark quarks, and the confinement scale of the dynamics provides the unique mass scale of the model.