FIS Projects at INFN Padova

Project QAXION FIS-2023-02106 CUP I53C25001880001
P.I. and INFN Scientific coordinator: Di Luzio Luca
duration: dal 17/08/2026 al 16/08/2029
budget: Euro 1.501.036,52

QAXION is an interdisciplinary project bringing together particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology to address key theoretical challenges in axion physics and their experimental consequences. The axion hypothesis, currently within the reach of experimental verification, represents one of the most compelling pathways beyond the Standard Model, by providing at the same time an elegant solution to the strong CP problem and an excellent dark matter candidate.
A central goal of QAXION is to improve the description of axion-hadron interactions in non-perturbative regimes, where standard chiral perturbation theory fails. This will be achieved by means of unitarization techniques, based on the unitarity and analyticity properties of axion-hadron scattering amplitudes, which will allow to tackle fundamental problems in axion physics like axion thermal production in the early Universe and axion emission from Supernova cores. These challenging calculations, including finite temperature and baryon density effects, will provide cutting-edge predictions to assess the discovery potential of Cosmic Microwave Background experiments and a realistic proposal for the direct detection of Supernova axions.
A further objective of QAXION is to investigate the connection between axions, strong CP violation, and axion-mediated forces. In this respect, QAXION will develop an effective-field-theory program to relate the scalar axion–nucleon coupling to generic high-energy sources of CP violation, and to assess how the same sources could lead to observable signals in axion-mediated force experiments, with potential implications for our understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe.