Electroweak Baryogenesis without the Phase Transition

Although the origin of matter-antimatter asymmetry remains unknown, continuing advances in theory and improved experimental limits have ruled out some scenarios for baryogenesis, for example the sphaleron baryogenesis at the electroweak phase transition in the standard model. At the same time, the success of cosmological inflation and the prospects for discovering supersymmetry at the LHC have put some other models in sharper focus. We review the current state of our understa...

We present a new mechanism for generating the baryon asymmetry of the universe directly in the decay of a singlet scalar field $S_r$ with a weak scale mass and a high dimensional baryon number violating coupling. Unlike most currently popular models, this mechanism, which becomes effective after the electroweak phase transition, does not rely on the sphalerons for inducing a nonzero baryon number. CP asymmetry in $S_r$ decay arises through loop diagrams involving the exchange...

We elaborate upon the model of baryogenesis from decaying magnetic helicity by focusing on the evolution of the baryon number and magnetic field through the Standard Model electroweak crossover. The baryon asymmetry is determined by a competition between the helical hypermagnetic field, which sources baryon number, and the electroweak sphaleron, which tends to wash out baryon number. At the electroweak crossover both of these processes become inactive; the hypermagnetic field...

I summarize recent results (work done in collaboration with Kimmo Kainulainen and Axel Vischer) in which we make quantitative predictions for the baryon asymmetry of the universe in the charge transport mechanism of electroweak baryogenesis. Making favorable assumptions about the unknown quantities relevant to the problem, we find that the mechanism is marginally capable of creating a baryon asymmetry as large as that observed. (Talk presented at Great Lakes Cosmology Worksho...

We initiate a study of cosmological implications of sphaleron-mediated CP-violation arising from the electroweak vacuum angle under the reasonable assumption that the semiclassical suppression is lifted at finite temperature. In this article, we explore the implications for existing scenarios of baryogenesis. Many compelling models of baryogenesis rely on electroweak sphalerons to relax a $(B+L)$ charge asymmetry. Depending on the sign of the CP-violating parameter, it is sho...

We calculate the baryon asymmetry of the Universe which would arise during a first order electroweak phase transition due to minimal standard model processes. It agrees in sign and magnitude with the observed baryonic excess, for resonable KM parameters and m$_t$ in the expected range, and plausible values of bubble velocity and other high temperature effects. A detailed version of this work (77pp) is being simultaneously submitted to the net. A shortened version of this rece...

The presence of a primordial magnetic field in the early universe affects the dynamic of the electroweak phase transition enhancing its strength. This effect may enlarge the window for electroweak baryogenesis in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model or even resurrect the electroweak baryogenesis scenario in the standard model. We compute the sphaleron energy in the background of the magnetic field and show that, due to the sphaleron dipole moment, the ba...

The baryon asymmetry of the universe may originate in the phase transition at the end of hybrid inflation, provided that the reheat temperature is low enough. I show that if the field that triggers the end of inflation is the electroweak Higgs field and CP is violated, the transition leads to baryon asymmetry even if no preheating or non-thermal symmetry restoration takes place. I estimate the strength of this effect and the constraints it imposes on the inflationary model.

Contrary to naive cosmological expectations, all evidence suggests that the universe contains an abundance of matter over antimatter. This article reviews the currently popular scenario in which testable physics, present in the standard model of electroweak interactions and its modest extensions, is responsible for this fundamental cosmological datum. A pedagogical explanation of the motivations and physics behind electroweak baryogenesis is provided, and analytical approache...

In this contribution we will shortly review the main mechanism through which primordial magnetic fields may affect the electroweak baryogenesis. It is shown that although strong magnetic fields might enhance the strength of the electroweak phase transition, no benefit is found for baryogenesis once the effect of the field on the sphaleron rate is taken into account. The possible role of hypermagnetic helicity for the electroweak baryogenesis is shortly discussed.