Kinetic fragmentation of the QCD axion on the lattice

Abstract Kinetic misalignment, one of the most compelling scenarios for the non-thermal generation of axion dark matter, is generally accompanied by axion fragmentation, a process in which the energy of the axion condensate is transferred to its perturbations. The dynamics of fragmentation, at least in the context of dark matter production, have so far been studied semi-analytically using perturbation theory. In this work, we present the first classical lattice simulation of kinetic axion fragmentation in the context of dark matter production, focusing on parameters relevant to the QCD axion. Our findings indicate that the non-perturbative dynamics captured by the lattice lead to a significantly broader spectrum of axion fluctuations, with a sustained transfer of energy to mildly relativistic modes and with smaller occupation numbers compared to the linear approximation. As a consequence, the final dark matter abundance is typically 𝒪(1) lower than in the linear approximation, which is itself 𝒪(1) lower than the zero-mode-only prediction. This broadening and suppression of the spectrum could have a significant impact on axion mini-halo formation, one of the main experimental handles on kinetic fragmentation.