Effects of CP-Violation in Neutralino Scattering and Annihilation

We summarize our paper hep-ph/9908390, where we find that in some regions of supersymmetric parameter space, CP violating effects that mix the CP-even and CP-odd Higgs bosons can enhance the neutralino annihilation rate by factors of 10^6, and reduce the neutralino scattering rate off nucleons by factors of 10^{-7}.Comment: 2 pages, 5 figures, TAUP99, Paris, Franc

Instability and Subsequent Evolution of Electroweak Bubbles

Bubbles in a first-order electroweak phase transition are nucleated with radii $R_0$ and expand with velocity $v$. If $v$ is subsonic, a bubble becomes unstable to non-spherical perturbations when its radius is roughly $10^4\, R_0$. These perturbations accelerate the transition, and the effective velocity of bubble growth rapidly becomes supersonic. The transition should subsequently proceed spherically via detonation. If for some reason the onset of detonation is postponed, the surface area of the bubbles may be enhanced by $10^5$. We discuss consequences for electroweak baryogenesis.Comment: 9 pages (IASSNS-HEP-92-46

Dark Matter in the MSSM Golden Region

Dark matter is examined within the ``golden region'' of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. This region satisfies experimental constraints, including a lower bound on the Higgs mass of 114 GeV, and minimizes fine-tuning of the Z boson mass. Here we impose additional constraints (particularly due to experimental bounds on $b\to s \gamma$). Then we find the properties of the Dark Matter in this region. Neutralinos with a relic density that provides the amount of dark matter required by cosmological data are shown to consist of a predominant gaugino (rather than higgsino) fraction. In addition, the U(1)$_Y$ gaugino mass parameter must satisfy $M_1 < 300$ GeV.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure