Speaker
Description
Pseudo Nambu-Goldstone (pNG) bosons can play important roles in particle physics, such as being a light dark matter (DM), the QCD axion to solve the strong CP problem, and so on. I point out that such a pNG boson is naturally realized by the finite modular symmetry, which may originate from the geometry of extra dimensions in the superstring models. An accidental global U(1) symmetry arises due to the residual $Z_N$ symmetry, when the modulus is stabilized near a fixed point of the finite modular symmetry. To illustrate, I will show the realization of the KSVZ axion model to solve the strong CP problem, where the modulus is stabilized by the radiative potential generated by the vector-like quarks, based on arXiv:2402.02071 (JHEP) and 2405.03996 (JHEP). Since the finite modular symmetries were originally used to explain the flavor structure, this observation suggests that there are non-trivial connections between the pNG mode, which may be the DM, and flavor physics. If time permits, I will discuss the existence of such pNG mode in other stabilization mechanisms and possible applications to particle physics based on 2409.19261 and 2412.18435.
