43 research outputs found
Full Boltzmann equations for leptogenesis including scattering
We study the evolution of a cosmological baryon asymmetry produced via
leptogenesis by means of the full classical Boltzmann equations, without the
assumption of kinetic equilibrium and including all quantum statistical
factors. Beginning with the full mode equations we derive the usual equations
of motion for the right-handed neutrino number density and integrated lepton
asymmetry, and show explicitly the impact of each assumption on these
quantities. For the first time, we investigate also the effects of scattering
of the right-handed neutrino with the top quark to leading order in the Yukawa
couplings by means of the full Boltzmann equations. We find that in our full
Boltzmann treatment the final lepton asymmetry can be suppressed by as much as
a factor of 1.5 in the weak wash-out regime (K<1), compared to the usual
integrated approach which assumes kinetic equilibrium and neglects quantum
statistics. This suppression is in contrast with the enhancement seen in some
previous studies that considered only decay and inverse decay of the
right-handed neutrino. However, this suppression quickly decreases as we
increase K. In the strong wash-out regime (K>1), the full Boltzmann treatment
and the integrated approach give nearly identical final lepton asymmetries
(within 10 % of each other at K>3). Finally, we show that the opposing effects
of quantum statistics on decays/inverse decays and the scattering processes
tend to reduce the net importance of scattering on leptogenesis in the full
treatment compared to the integrated approach.Comment: 39 pages, 8 figures, typos corrected, replaced to match published
versio
Further Considerations on the CP Asymmetry in Heavy Majorana Neutrino Decays
We work out the thermodynamic equations for the decays and scatterings of
heavy Majorana neutrinos including the constraints from unitarity. The
Boltzmann equations depend on the CP asymmetry parameter which contains both, a
self-energy and a vertex correction. At thermal equilibrium there is no net
lepton asymmetry due to the CPT theorem and the unitarity constraint. We show
explicitly that deviations from thermal equilibrium create the lepton
asymmetry.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 1 eps figure, 1 ps figur
Leptogenesis with "Fuzzy Mass Shell" for Majorana Neutrinos
We study the mixing of elementary and composite particles. In quantum field
theory the mixing of composite particles originates in the couplings of the
constituent quarks and for neutrinos in self-energy diagrams. In the event that
the incoming and outgoing neutrinos have different masses, the self-energy
diagrams vanish because energy is not conserved but the finite decaying widths
make the mixing possible. We can consider the neutrinos to be "fuzzy" states on
their mass shell and the mixing is understood as the overlap of two
wavefunctions. These considerations restrict the mass difference to be
approximately equal to or smaller than the largest of the two widths: abs(M_i -
M_j) lessorequal max(Gamma_i, Gamma_j).Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur
Leptogenesis and neutrino parameters
We calculate the baryonic asymmetry of the universe in the
baryogenesis-via-leptogenesis framework, assuming first a quark-lepton symmetry
and then a charged-neutral lepton symmetry. We match the results with the
experimentally favoured range. In the first case all the oscillation solutions
to the solar neutrino problem, except the large mixing matter solution, can
lead to the allowed range, but with fine tuning of the parameters. In the
second case the general result is quite similar. Some related theoretical hints
are discussed.Comment: RevTex, 21 pages with 8 figure
Light Lepton Number Violating Sneutrinos and the Baryon Number of the Universe
Recent results of neutrino oscillation experiments point to a nonvanishing
neutrino mass. Neutrino mass models favour Majorana-type neutrinos. In such
circumstances it is natural that the supersymmetric counterpart of the
neutrino, the sneutrino, bears also lepton number violating properties. On the
other hand, the fact that the universe exhibits an asymmetry in the baryon and
antibaryon numbers poses constraints on the extent of lepton number violation
in the light sneutrino sector if the electroweak phase transition is second or
weak first order. From the requirement that the Baryon Asymmetry of the
Universe should not be washed out by sneutrino induced lepton number violating
interactions and sphalerons below the critical temperature of the electroweak
phase transition we find that the mass splitting of the light sneutrino mass
states is compatible with the sneutrino Cold Dark Matter hypothesis only for
heavy gauginos and opposite sign gaugino mass parameters.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Axino dark matter from thermal production
The axino is a promising candidate for dark matter in the Universe. It is
electrically and color neutral, very weakly interacting, and could be - as
assumed in this study - the lightest supersymmetric particle, which is stable
for unbroken R-parity. In supersymmetric extensions of the standard model, in
which the strong CP problem is solved via the Peccei-Quinn mechanism, the axino
arises naturally as the fermionic superpartner of the axion. We compute the
thermal production rate of axinos in supersymmetric QCD. Using hard thermal
loop resummation, we obtain a finite result in a gauge-invariant way, which
takes into account Debye screening in the hot quark-gluon-squark-gluino plasma.
The relic axino abundance from thermal scatterings after inflation is
evaluated. We find that thermally produced axinos could provide the dominant
part of cold dark matter, for example, for an axino mass of 100 keV and a
reheating temperature of 10^6 GeV.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, erratum adde
Sleptogenesis
We propose that the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe can naturally
arise from a net asymmetry generated in the sleptonic sector at fairly low
reheat temperatures. The best candidate is indeed the right-handed sneutrino.
The initial asymmetry in the sneutrino sector can be produced from the decay of
the inflaton, and is subsequently transferred into the Standard Model (s)lepton
doublet via the decay of the sneutrino. The active sphalerons then reprocess
the leptonic asymmetry into the baryonic asymmetry. The marked feature of this
scenario is that the lepton asymmetry is decoupled from the neutrino Yukawa
sector. We exhibit that our scenario can be embedded within models which seek
the origin of a tiny mass for neutrinos.Comment: 7 revtex pages, 2 figures (uses axodraw). Minor changes for better
clarification and updated references. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Gravitino constraints on models of neutrino masses and leptogenesis
In the supersymmetric extensions of the standard model, neutrino masses and
leptogenesis requires existence of new particles. We point out that if these
particles with lepton number violating interactions have standard model gauge
interactions, then they may not be created after reheating because of the
gravitino problem. This will rule out all existing models of neutrino masses
and leptogenesis, except the one with right-handed singlet neutrinos.Comment: 12 pages latex file with one postscript figur
Leptogenesis from Soft Supersymmetry Breaking (Soft Leptogenesis)
Soft leptogenesis is a scenario in which the cosmic baryon asymmetry is
produced from a lepton asymmetry generated in the decays of heavy sneutrinos
(the partners of the singlet neutrinos of the seesaw) and where the relevant
sources of CP violation are the complex phases of soft supersymmetry-breaking
terms. We explain the motivations for soft leptogenesis, and review its basic
ingredients: the different CP-violating contributions, the crucial role played
by thermal corrections, and the enhancement of the efficiency from lepton
flavour effects. We also discuss the high temperature regime GeV in
which the cosmic baryon asymmetry originates from an initial asymmetry of an
anomalous -charge, and soft leptogenesis reembodies in -genesis.Comment: References updated. Some minor corrections to match the published
versio
Stable Superstring Relics and Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays
One of the most intriguing experimental results of recent years is the
observation of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECRs) above the GZK cutoff.
Plausible candidates for the UHECR primaries are the decay products of a
meta--stable matter state with mass of order O(10^{12-15 GeV}), which
simultaneously is a good cold dark matter candidate. We study possible
meta-stable matter states that arise from Wilson line breaking of GUT
symmetries in semi-realistic heterotic string models. In the models that we
study the exotic matter states can be classified according to patterns of
SO(10) symmetry breaking. We show that cryptons, which are states that carry
fractional electric charge , and are confined by a hidden gauge group
cannot produce viable dark matter. This is due to the fact that, in addition to
the lightest neutral bound state, cryptons give rise to meta-stable charged
bound states. However, these states may still account for the UHECR events. We
argue that the uniton, which is an exotic Standard Model quark but carries
``fractional'' U(1)_{Z'} charge, as well as the singleton, which is a Standard
Model singlet with ``fractional'' U(1)_{Z'} charge do provide viable dark
matter candidates and can at the same time explain the observed UHECR events.Comment: 24 pages. 5 figure