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Nonminimally coupled ultralight axions as cold dark matter

We consider a nonminimally coupled scalar field as a potential cold dark matter candidate. These models are natural extensions of the ultralight axion models which are based on minimally coupled scalar fields. Such ultralight scalar fields are motivated by string theory and, in particular, have been studied in the context of the axiverse scenario. For a nonminimally coupled field, the scalar-field energy density behaves as radiation at early times, which yields a bound on the coupling constant, $ξ\lesssim 10$, from the primordial nucleosynthesis theory. The first-order perturbations of the nonminimally coupled field with adiabatic initial conditions cause the gravitational potential to decay on large scales. A comparison of the cosmological data with the theoretical matter power spectrum yields the following constraint on the coupling constant: $ξ\lesssim 0.01$. We also consider isocurvature modes in our analysis. We argue that a mix of adiabatic and isocurvature initial conditions for a nonminimally coupled scalar field might allow one to obtain the usual adiabatic CDM power spectrum.