B modes from postinflationary gravitational waves sourced by axionic instabilities at cosmic reionization

We show that axionlike particles that only couple to invisible dark photons can generate visible B mode signals around the reionization epoch. The axion field starts rolling shortly before reionization, resulting in a tachyonic instability for the dark photons. This generates an exponential growth of the dark photon quanta sourcing both scalar metric modes and gravitational waves that leave an imprint on the reionized baryons. The tensor modes modify the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization at reionization, generating visible B mode signatures for the next generation of CMB experiments for parameter ranges that satisfy the current experimental constraints.

Automated summary

The research demonstrates that axionlike particles that couple only to invisible dark photons can result in visible B mode signals around the reionization epoch. The axion field rolling before reionization leads to a tachyonic instability for dark photons, generating an exponential growth of dark photon quanta that leave an imprint on reionized baryons. The tensor modes modify the CMB polarization at reionization, producing visible B mode signatures for future CMB experiments within current experimental constraints.