Peccei-Quinn-like symmetries for nonabelian axions

Abstract

Axions were first introduced in connection with chiral symmetry but are now being looked for mainly as dark matter. In this paper we introduce a nonabelian analogue of axions which can also be potential candidates for dark matter. Their nonabelian symmetries, which are generalizations of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry, are interesting in their own right. Detailed analysis, using fermion measure and zeta function approaches shows that these symmetries are not anomalous.