TeV scale leptogenesis via dark sector scatterings

Abstract

We propose a novel scenario of generating lepton asymmetry via annihilation and coannihilation of dark sector particles including t-channel processes. In order to realistically implement this idea, we consider the scotogenic model having three right handed neutrinos and a new scalar doublet, all of which are odd under an in-built Z_2 symmetry. The lightest Z_2 odd particle, if electromagnetically neutral, can be a dark matter candidate while annihilation and coannihilation between different Z_2 odd particles into standard model leptons serve as the source of lepton asymmetry. The light neutrino masses arise at one loop level with Z_2 odd fields going inside the loop. We show that experimental data related to light neutrinos, dark matter relic abundance and baryon asymmetry can be simultaneously satisfied in the model for two different cases: one with fermion dark matter and the other with scalar dark matter. In both scenarios, t-channel annihilation as well as coannihilation of Z_2 odd particles play a non-trivial role in producing the non-zero CP asymmetry. Both the scenarios remain allowed from DM direct detection while keeping the scale of leptogenesis as low as TeV or less, lower than the one for vanilla leptogenesis scenario in scotogenic model along with the additional advantage of explaining the baryon-dark matter coincidence to some extent. Due to such low scale, the model is testable through rare decay experiments looking for charged lepton flavour violation.