Lepton Asymmetry Research Articles

Impact of Q-balls formed by first-order phase transition on sterile neutrino dark matter

We explore the mechanism that can explain the production of lepton asymmetry and two types of sterile neutrino dark matter. The first type involves heavy sterile dark matter produced directly by the decay of Q-balls which are formed by first-order phase transition in the early universe; the second consists of keV sterile neutrino dark matter, produced resonantly with the aid of lepton asymmetry from Q-ball decay. Besides, gravitational waves from cosmic strings generated during the phase transition process could be detected at future interferometers.

Purely flavored leptogenesis from a sudden mass gain of right-handed neutrinos

In this paper, we would like to point out that in the scenario that the right-handed neutrinos suddenly gain some masses much larger than the temperature of the Universe at that time so that the washout effects for the lepton asymmetry generated from their decays can be neglected safely, the purely flavored leptogenesis scenario (in which the total CP asymmetries for the decays of the right-handed neutrinos are vanishing and the successful leptogenesis is realized by virtue of the flavor non-universality of the washout effects) cannot work in the usual way any more. For this problem, we put forward that the flavor non-universality of the conversion efficiencies from the flavored lepton asymmetries to the baryon asymmetry via the sphaleron processes may play a crucial role. And we will study if the requisite baryon asymmetry can be successfully reproduced from such a mechanism in the scenarios that the right-handed neutrino masses are hierarchical and nearly degenerate, respectively. A detailed study shows that this mechanism can be viable in both these two scenarios.

Matter asymmetries in the ZN dark matter-companion models

A class of ZN≥3-symmetric WIMP dark matter models that are characterized by the semi-annihilation into the companion of dark matter has been proposed in ref. [1], providing a mechanism to evade the stringent direct detection constraint. In this work, we point out that such models naturally provide the three Sakharov elements necessary for dark matter asymmetry, and moreover this asymmetry can be transferred to the visible sector with a proper link to the leptonic or quark sector. In our minimal Z3 example, the migration to the leptonic sector is via the asymmetric companion decay into neutrinos, and the lepton asymmetry can be further transferred to the quark sector. The CP violation parameter is restrained in this model. Thus, we explore the thermal motion effect of dark matter and find that it gives an enhancement to the CP violation parameter, which is studied for the first time. A preliminary numerical analysis based on the Boltzmann equations shows that both correct relic density of dark matter and baryon asymmetry can be accommodated.

Affleck-Dine leptogenesis scenario for resonant production of sterile neutrino dark matter

Sterile neutrino is a fascinating candidate for dark matter.In this paper, we examine the Affleck-Dine (AD) leptogenesis scenario generating a large lepton asymmetry,which can inducethe resonant production of sterile neutrino dark mattervia the Shi-Fuller (SF) mechanism.We also revisit the numerical calculation of the SF mechanism and the constraints from current X-ray and Lyman-α forest observations.We find that the AD leptogenesis scenario can explain the production of sterile neutrino dark matter by incorporating a non-topological soliton with a lepton charge called L-ball.Finally, we discussan enhancement of second-order gravitational waves at the L-ball decay and investigate the testability of our scenario with future gravitational wave observations.

Leptogenesis consequences of trimaximal mixing and μ−τ reflection symmetry in the most minimal seesaw model

In this paper, we have studied the realizations of the popular first trimaximal neutrino mixing and neutrino μ−τ reflection symmetry (which are well motivated from the neutrino oscillation data and lead to interesting phenomenological consequences) in the most minimal seesaw model with a pseudo-Dirac pair of right-handed neutrinos and their consequences for leptogenesis. In order to realize the low-scale resonant leptogenesis scenario, we have considered two possible ways of generating the tiny mass splitting between the two right-handed neutrinos: one way is to modify their Majorana mass matrix to a form as shown in Eq. (25); the other way is to consider the renormalization-group corrections for their masses. For the μ−τ reflection symmetry, in order for leptogenesis to work, we have further considered the flavor-dependent conversion efficiencies from the lepton asymmetry to the baryon asymmetry during the sphaleron processes and its breaking via the renormalization-group corrections. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Neutrino at Different Epochs of the Friedmann Universe

At least two relics of the Big Bang have survived: the cosmological microwave background (CMB) and the cosmological neutrino background (CνB). Being the second most abundant particle in the universe, the neutrino has a significant impact on its evolution from the Big Bang to the present day. Neutrinos affect the following cosmological processes: the expansion rate of the universe, its chemical and isotopic composition, the CMB anisotropy and the formation of the large-scale structure of the universe. Another relic neutrino background is theoretically predicted, it consists of non-equilibrium antineutrinos of Primordial Nucleosynthesis arising as a result of the decay of neutrons and tritium nuclei. Such antineutrinos are an indicator of the baryon asymmetry of the universe. In addition to experimentally detectable active neutrinos, the existence of sterile neutrinos is theoretically predicted to generate neutrino masses and explain their oscillations. Sterile neutrinos can also solve such cosmological problems as the baryonic asymmetry of the universe and the nature of dark matter. The recent results of several independent experiments point to the possibility of the existence of a light sterile neutrino. However, the existence of such a neutrino is inconsistent with the predictions of the Standard Cosmological Model. The inclusion of a non-zero lepton asymmetry of the universe and/or increasing the energy density of active neutrinos can eliminate these contradictions and reconcile the possible existence of sterile neutrinos with Primordial Nucleosynthesis, the CMB anisotropy, and also reduce the H0-tension. In this brief review, we discuss the influence of the physical properties of active and sterile neutrinos on the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present day.

Induced gravitational waves and baryon asymmetry fluctuations from primordial black hole formation

We consider black hole formation due to the gravitational collapse produced by large density fluctuations during an epoch of reheating with a stiff equation of state and calculate the induced gravitational wave spectrum. By considering the existing bounds on the total energy density of gravitational waves today, we find constraints on the parameter space of this scenario. We also calculate the lepton asymmetry generated by metric perturbations via the chiral gravitational anomaly present in the Standard Model and find that, once the electroweak sphaleron processes have taken place, the large spectrum of scalar perturbations responsible for black hole formation induces a peak in the baryon asymmetry fluctuations on small scales.

Second leptogenesis: Unraveling the baryon-lepton asymmetry discrepancy

We propose a novel scenario to explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry by twofold leptogenesis, wherein heavy Majorana neutrinos exhibit temperature-dependent masses and engage in CP-violating decays. This scenario envisages two distinct phases of leptogenesis: one occurring above the electroweak scale and the other below it. The sphaleron process converts the first lepton asymmetry to baryon asymmetry, but not the second one due to its decoupling. This mechanism potentially explains the significant discrepancy between baryon and lepton asymmetries, as suggested by recent observations of Helium-4. Furthermore, our model implies that the present masses of Majorana neutrinos are lighter than the electroweak scale, offering a tangible avenue for experimental verification in various terrestrial settings.

Superradiant leptogenesis

We investigate how superradiance affects the generation of baryon asymmetry in a universe with rotating primordial black holes, considering a scenario where a scalar boson is coupled to the heavy right-handed neutrinos. We identify the regions of the parameter space where the scalar production is enhanced due to superradiance. This enhancement, coupled with the subsequent decay of the scalar into right handed neutrinos, results in the non-thermal creation of lepton asymmetry. We show that successful leptogenesis is achieved for masses of primordial black holes in the range of order O(0.1 g) − O(10 g) and the lightest of the heavy neutrino masses, MN ~ O(1012) GeV. Consequently, regions of the parameter space, which in the case of Schwarzchild PBHs were incompatible with viable leptogenesis, can produce the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry.

Dynamical inflation stimulated cogenesis

We propose a minimal setup that realises dynamical inflection point inflation, and, using the same field content, generates neutrino masses, a baryon asymmetry of the universe, and dark matter. A dark SU(2)D gauge sector with a dark scalar doublet playing the role of inflaton is considered along with several doublet and singlet fermions sufficient to realise multiple inflection points in the inflaton potential. The singlet fermions couple to SM leptons and generate neutrino masses via the inverse seesaw mechanism. Those fermions also decay asymmetrically and out of equilibrium, generating a baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis. Some of the fermion doublets are dark matter, and they are produced via inflaton decay and freeze-in annihilation of the same fermions that generate the lepton asymmetry. Reheating, leptogenesis, and dark matter are all at the TeV scale.

Baryogenesis and leptogenesis from supercooled confinement

We propose a framework of baryogenesis and leptogenesis that relies on a supercooled confining phase transition (PT) in the early universe. The baryon or lepton asymmetry is sourced by decays of hadrons of the strong dynamics after the PT, and it is enhanced compared to the non-confining case, which was the only one explored so far. This widens the energy range of the PT, where the observed baryon asymmetry can be reproduced, down to the electroweak scale. The framework then becomes testable with gravity waves (GW) at LISA and the Einstein Telescope. We then study two explicit realisations: one of leptogenesis from composite sterile neutrinos that realises inverse see-saw; one of baryogenesis from composite scalars that is partly testable by existing colliders and flavour factories.

Low scale leptogenesis in singlet-triplet scotogenic model

The scotogenic model presents an elegant and succinct framework for elucidating the origin of tiny neutrino masses within the framework of the Standard Model, employing radiative corrections within the domain of the dark sector. We investigate the possibility of achieving low-scale leptogenesis in the singlet-triplet scotogenic model (STSM), where dark matter mediates neutrino mass generation. We initially considered a scenario involving two moderately hierarchical heavy fermions, N and Σ, wherein the lepton asymmetry is generated by the out-of-equilibrium decay of both particles. Our analysis indicates that the scale of leptogenesis in this scenario is similar to that of standard thermal leptogenesis and is approximately M N,Σ ∼ 109 GeV, which is comparable to the Type-I seesaw case. Further, we consider the case with three heavy fermions (N 2, N 2, and Σ) with the hierarchy M N 1 < M Σ ≪ MM N 2 , which yields the lower bound on heavy fermions up to 3.1 TeV, therefore significantly reduce the scale of the leptogenesis up to TeV scale. The only prerequisite is suppression in the N 1 and Σ Yukawa couplings, which causes suppressed washout effects and a small active neutrino mass of about 10-5 eV. This brings about the fascinating insight that experiments aiming to measure the absolute neutrino mass scale can test low-scale leptogenesis in the scotogenic model. Further, the hyperchargeless scalar triplet Ω provides an additional contribution to mass of the W-boson explaining CDF-II result.

Parity solution to the strong CP problem and a unified framework for inflation, baryogenesis, and dark matter

It has been known for some time that asymptotic parity invariance of weak interactions can provide a solution to the strong CP problem without the need for the axion. Left-right symmetric theories which employ a minimal Higgs sector consisting of a left-handed and a right-handed doublet is an example of such a theory wherein all fermion masses arise through a generalized seesaw mechanism. In this paper we present a way to understand the origin of matter-antimatter asymmetry as well as the dark matter content of the universe in these theories using the Affleck-Dine (AD) leptogenesis mechanism and inflaton decay, respectively. Three gauge singlet fermions are needed for this purpose, two of which help to implement the Dirac seesaw for neutrino masses while the third one becomes the non-thermal dark matter candidate. A soft lepton number breaking term involving the AD scalar field is used to generate lepton asymmetry which suffers no wash-out effects and maintains the Dirac nature of neutrinos. This framework thus provides a unified description of many of the unresolved puzzles of the standard model that require new physics.

Rescuing leptogenesis parameter space of inverse seesaw

In a pure inverse seesaw framework, achieving a substantial lepton asymmetry that can be converted into the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe is extremely challenging. The difficulty arises primarily due to two reasons, (i) partial cancellation of the lepton asymmetries associated with the components of a pseudo-Dirac pair, and (ii) strong wash out caused by the inverse decays. In this work we offer two possible resolutions to overcome the above mentioned challenges considering a (3,3) ISS framework. Our first proposal is based on the assumption of a non-standard cosmological era in the pre-BBN epoch, that triggers a faster expansion of the Universe, thereby reducing the washout by several orders of magnitude. The second proposition is an alternative of first which considers a quasi-degenerate mass spectrum for the singlet heavy neutrinos, resulting into a larger order of lepton asymmetry that survives the impact of strong washout to account for the observed BAU. The viable parameters space, as obtained can be tested at present and future Lepton Flavour Violation experiments e.g. MEG and MEG II.

Measurement of the τ lepton polarization in Z boson decays in proton-proton collisions at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13 TeV

The polarization of τ leptons is measured using leptonic and hadronic τ lepton decays in Z → τ+τ− events in proton-proton collisions at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13 TeV recorded by CMS at the CERN LHC with an integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb−1. The measured τ− lepton polarization at the Z boson mass pole is PτZ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\mathcal{P}}_{\ au}\\left(\ extrm{Z}\\right) $$\\end{document} = −0.144 ± 0.006 (stat) ± 0.014 (syst) = −0.144 ± 0.015, in good agreement with the measurement of the τ lepton asymmetry parameter of Aτ = 0.1439 ± 0.0043 = −PτZ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ -{\\mathcal{P}}_{\ au}\\left(\ extrm{Z}\\right) $$\\end{document} at LEP. The τ lepton polarization depends on the ratio of the vector to axial-vector couplings of the τ leptons in the neutral current expression, and thus on the effective weak mixing angle sin2θWeff\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\ heta}_{\ extrm{W}}^{\ extrm{eff}} $$\\end{document}, independently of the Z boson production mechanism. The obtained value sin2θWeff\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\ heta}_{\ extrm{W}}^{\ extrm{eff}} $$\\end{document} = 0.2319 ± 0.0008(stat) ± 0.0018(syst) = 0.2319 ± 0.0019 is in good agreement with measurements at e+e− colliders.

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Constraints and Indications for Beyond Standard Model Neutrino Physics

We use Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) to probe Beyond Standard Model physics in the neutrino sector. Recently, the abundances of primordially produced light elements D and He-4 were determined from observations with better accuracy. The good agreement between the theoretically predicted abundances of primordially produced light elements and those derived from observations allows us to update the BBN constraints on Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics. We provide numerical analysis of several BSM models of BBN and obtain precise cosmological constraints and indications for new neutrino physics. Namely, we derive more stringent BBN constraints on electron neutrino–sterile neutrino oscillations corresponding to 1% uncertainty of the observational determination of the primordial He-4. The cosmological constraints are obtained both for the zero and non-zero cases of the initial population of the sterile neutrino state. Then, in a degenerate BBN model with neutrino νe↔νs oscillations, we analyze the change in the cosmological constraints in case lepton asymmetry L is big enough to suppress oscillations. We obtain constraints on the lepton asymmetry L. We discuss a possible solution to the dark radiation problem in degenerate BBN models with νe↔νs oscillations in case L is large enough to suppress neutrino oscillations during the BBN epoch. Interestingly, the required value of L for solving the DR problem is close to the value of L indicated by the EMPRESS experiment, and also it is close to the value of lepton asymmetry that is necessary to relax Hubble tension.

Delving into new physics in semileptonic b→cτν̄ transitions

In recent times, there have been several observations suggesting deviations from lepton universality in semileptonic decays of [Formula: see text] mesons. These deviations have been noticed both in the neutral-current transitions ([Formula: see text]) and charged-current transitions ([Formula: see text]). Motivated by these intriguing findings, we investigate the semileptonic decays involving the quark-level transitions of [Formula: see text]. To explore the presence of new physics, we adopt a model-independent approach and analyze the processes [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] represent the four lightest excited charm mesons. Considering a comprehensive effective Hamiltonian, we perform a global fit using various sets of new coefficients and incorporate measurements of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], as well as the upper limit on the branching ratio of [Formula: see text]. Subsequently, we examine the impact of constrained new couplings on the branching ratios, forward–backward asymmetry parameters, lepton nonuniversality (LNU) ratios, as well as lepton and hadron polarization asymmetries in these decay modes.

Bubble-assisted leptogenesis

We explore the possibility of embedding thermal leptogenesis within a first-order phase transition (FOPT) such that RHNs remain massless until a FOPT arises. Their sudden and violent mass gain allows the neutrinos to become thermally decoupled, and the lepton asymmetry generated from their decay can be, in principle, free from the strong wash-out processes that conventional leptogenesis scenarios suffer from, albeit at the cost of new washout channels. To quantify the effect of this enhancement, we consider a simple setup of a classically scale-invariant B − L potential, which requires three RHNs with similar mass scales, in the “strong-washout” regime of thermal leptogenesis. Here we find that parameter space which requires MN ~ 1011 GeV without bubble assistance is now predicted at MN ~ 5 × 109 GeV suggesting a sizeable reduction from bubble effects. We numerically quantify to what extent such a framework can alleviate strong-washout effects and we find the lower bound on the RHN mass, MN ~ 107 GeV, below which bubble-assisted leptogenesis cannot provide an enhancement. We also study the signature possibly observable at GW terrestrial interferometers and conclude that bubble-assisted leptogenesis models with relatively light masses, MN ≲ 5 × 109 GeV may be probable.

Supersymmetric baryogenesis in a hybrid inflation model

We study baryogenesis in a hybrid inflation model which is embedded to the minimal supersymmetric model with right-handed neutrinos. Inflation is induced by a linear combination of the right-handed sneutrinos and its decay reheats the universe. The decay products are stored in conserved numbers, which are transported under the interactions in equilibrium as the temperature drops down. We find that at least a few percent of the initial lepton asymmetry is left under the strong wash-out due to the lighter right-handed (s)neutrinos. To account for the observed baryon number and the active neutrino masses after a successful inflation, the inflaton mass and the Majorana mass scale should be 1013 GeV and mathcal{O} (109–1010) GeV, respectively.

Evidence for the charge asymmetry in pp → toverline{t} production at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Inclusive and differential measurements of the top–antitop ( toverline{t} ) charge asymmetry {A}_{textrm{C}}^{toverline{t}} and the leptonic asymmetry {A}_{textrm{C}}^{ell overline{ell}} are presented in proton–proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement uses the complete Run 2 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1, combines data in the single-lepton and dilepton channels, and employs reconstruction techniques adapted to both the resolved and boosted topologies. A Bayesian unfolding procedure is performed to correct for detector resolution and acceptance effects. The combined inclusive toverline{t} charge asymmetry is measured to be {A}_{textrm{C}}^{toverline{t}} = 0.0068 ± 0.0015, which differs from zero by 4.7 standard deviations. Differential measurements are performed as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum and longitudinal boost of the toverline{t} system. Both the inclusive and differential measurements are found to be compatible with the Standard Model predictions, at next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics perturbation theory with next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. The measurements are interpreted in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory, placing competitive bounds on several Wilson coefficients.