Axion constraints in nonstandard thermal histories

Abstract

It is usually assumed that dark matter is produced during the radiation-dominated era. There is, however, no direct evidence for radiation domination prior to big-bang nucleosynthesis. Two nonstandard thermal histories are considered. In one, the low-temperature-reheating scenario, radiation domination begins as late as ~1 MeV, and is preceded by significant entropy generation. Thermal axion relic abundances are then suppressed, and cosmological limits to axions are loosened. For reheating temperatures Trh<~35 MeV, the large-scale structure limit to the axion mass is lifted. The remaining constraint from the total density of matter is significantly relaxed. Constraints are also relaxed for higher reheating temperatures. In a kination scenario, a more modest change to cosmological axion constraints is obtained. Future possible constraints to axions and low-temperature reheating from the helium abundance and next-generation large-scale-structure surveys are discussed.