Uncovering an axion mechanism with the EDM portfolio

Abstract

Effective field theory arguments suggest that if beyond the standard model (BSM) sectors contain new sources of violation that couple to QCD, these sources will renormalize the term and frustrate ultraviolet solutions to the strong problem. Simultaneously, they will generate distinctive patterns of low-energy electric dipole moments in hadronic, nuclear, atomic, and molecular systems. Observing such patterns thus provides evidence that strong is solved by an infrared relaxation mechanism. We illustrate the renormalization of and the collections of electric dipole moments generated in several models of BSM physics, confirming effective field theory expectations, and demonstrate that measurements of ratios of electric dipole moments at planned experiments can provide valuable input on the resolution of the strong problem.