Magnetic domain walls of relic fermions as Dark Energy

We show that relic fermions of the Big Bang can enter a ferromagnetic state if they possess a magnetic moment and satisfy the requirements of Stoner theory of itinerant ferromagnetism. The domain walls of this ferromagnetism can successfully simulate Dark Energy over the observable epoch spanning $\sim 10$ billion years. We obtain conditions on the anomalous magnetic moment of such fermions and their masses. Known neutrinos fail to satisfy the requirements thus pointing to the possibility of a new ultralight sector in Particle Physics.Comment: Essentially same as version 2; to appear in AIP proceedings of PASCOS 200

Naturalness of parity breaking in a supersymmetric SO(10) model

We consider a supersymmetric SO(10) model which remains renormalisable upto Planck scale. The cosmology of such a model passes through a Left-Right symmetric phase. Potential problems associated with domain walls can be evaded if parity breaking is induced by soft terms when supersymmetry breaks in the hidden sector. The smallness of this breaking permits a brief period of domination by the domain walls ensuring dilution of gravitinos and other unwanted relics. The requirement that domain walls disappear constrains some of the soft parameters of the Higgs potential.Comment: 4 pages, To appear in Proceedings of SUSY06, the 14th International Conference on Supersymmetry and the Unification of Fundamental Interactions, UC Irvine, California, 12-17 June 200

Graceful exit via monopoles in a theory with O'Raifeartaigh type supersymmetry breaking

We study the stability of supersymmetry breaking metastable vacua and supersymmetric vacua in the presence of solitons. The metastable vacua of supersymmetric QCD and those found elsewhere such as in models based on the SU(5) grand unified group support the existence of topological solitons. The vacua containing such topological defects can become unstable against decay into lower energy configurations. We show for a specific model that a finite region of the available parameter space of couplings becomes disallowed due to the presence of monopoles. In a manner similar to previous studies based on cosmic strings, it is shown that soliton solutions arising in supersymmetric theories can put constraints on the range of allowed values of the couplings arising in the theories. Implications for cosmology are discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

Cosmology in a supersymmetric model with gauged B−LB-L

We consider salient cosmological features of a supersymmetric model which is Left-Right symmetric and therefore possessing gauged $B-L$ symmetry. The requirement of breaking parity and also obtaining charge preserving vacua introduces some unique features to this model (MSLRM), resulting in a preference for non-thermal Leptogenesis. Assuming that the model preserves TeV scale supersymmetry, we show that the vacuum structure generically possesses domain walls, which can serve two important purposes. They can signal a secondary inflation required to remove unwanted relics such as gravitino and moduli and also generate lepton asymmetry by a mechanism similar to electroweak baryogenesis. The requirement of disappearance of domain walls imposes constraints on the soft parameters of the theory, testable at the TeV scale. We also propose an alternative model with spontaneous parity violation (MSLR\rlap/P). Incorporating the same cosmological considerations in this case entails constraints on a different set of soft parameters.Comment: 18 pages. Minor changes in text, but conclusion remains same. Published in Phys. Rev.

Neutrino and astroparticle physics : Working group report

The contributions made to the Working Group activities on neutrino and astroparticle physics are summarised in this article. The topics discussed were leptogenesis in Left-Right symmetric model, inflationary models in Raman-Sundrum scenarios, ultra high energy cosmic rays and neutrino oscillations in 4 flavour and decaying neutrino models.Comment: 11 pages; arXiv copy of contribution to WHEPP-6 proceeding