Axion cosmology with its scalar superpartner

In supersymmetric theories, the Peccei-Quinn symmetry has a complex extension as a symmetry of the superpotential, so that the scalar potential always has an almost flat direction, the dilaton. We discuss how coherent oscillation of the dilaton affects axion cosmology. We stress that the dilaton decay, if its dominant mode is not into axions, releases large entropy at a late epoch of the Universe's evolution to dilute axion energy density and the upperbound of the decay constant is raised up to about 10(15) GeV. The case of the M-theory axion is also discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.