Axions, Three-Forms, and M-Theory

Scalar fields with masses protected by global shift symmetries, commonly referred to as axions, are abundantly used in effective field theories in cosmology and particle physics. However, global symmetries cannot be expected to be protected at the fundamental level. Finding consistent ultra-violet completions for axions is therefore a necessity. In this work, we identify the axion with the position mode of a charged 3-brane in (4+1)-dimensions. The shift symmetry of the axion is then a residual diffeomorphism in the fifth dimension orthogonal to the brane. Meanwhile, the brane is coupled to a flux in the fifth dimension. From the (3+1)-dimensional perspective, this construction generates (perturbatively) a mass for the axion and matches previously known proposals in the literature based on the coupling between the axion and a three-form gauge field. In a second step, we uplift this (4+1)-dimensional model to M-theory, where the same three-form is found to couple to the membrane with a (2+1)-dimensional worldvolume. In particular, our proposal also elucidates the duality between the axion and a two-form gauge field in the literature. We show that this dual two-form couples to the boundary of an open membrane in M-theory. Finally, we comment on the relations to and differences from other closed and open string axion monodromy models.