Neutrino phenomenology, dark energy and leptogenesis from pseudo-Nambu–Goldstone bosons

Abstract

We consider a model of dynamical neutrino masses via the see–saw mechanism. Nambu–Goldstone bosons (majorons) arise associated with the formation of the heavy right-handed Majorana masses. These bosons then acquire naturally soft masses (become pNGB's) at loop level via the Higgs–Yukawa mass terms. These models, like the original neutrino pNGB quintessence schemes of the 1980's [C.T. Hill, D.N. Schramm, J.N. Fry, Nucl. Part. Phys. 19 (1989) 25; J.A. Frieman, C.T. Hill, R. Watkins, Phys. Rev. D 46 (1992) 1226; A.K. Gupta, C.T. Hill, R. Holman, E.W. Kolb, Phys. Rev. D 45 (1992) 441; J.A. Frieman, C.T. Hill, A. Stebbins, I. Waga, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 (1995) 2077, astro-ph/9505060] that proceed through the Dirac masses, are natural, have cosmological implications through mass varying neutrinos, long range forces, and provide a soft potential for dark energy. We further argue that these models can explain leptogenesis naturally through the decays of the right-handed neutrinos.