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Electroweak Baryogenesis

Mark Trodden

TL;DR

<3-5 sentence high-level summary> The paper surveys electroweak baryogenesis as a framework to explain the baryon asymmetry of the universe, focusing on how baryon-number-violating processes in the electroweak sector (via sphalerons) interact with CP violation and the dynamics of the electroweak phase transition. It evaluates zero- and finite-temperature baryon-number violation, discusses Standard Model and beyond-Standard Model CP-violating sources (notably in two-Higgs models and the MSSM), and analyzes both local and nonlocal baryogenesis mechanisms. The work emphasizes nonperturbative approaches, including lattice simulations and real-time dynamics, to assess the viability of EWBG, and highlights defect-mediated scenarios as alternatives that relax constraints on the phase transition. It concludes that while the SM alone cannot generate the observed BAU, plausible extensions—especially the MSSM and two-Higgs frameworks—offer testable pathways that can be probed by EDM measurements and collider experiments.

Abstract

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 approaches, numerical studies, up to date developments and open questions in the field are also discussed.

Electroweak Baryogenesis

TL;DR

<3-5 sentence high-level summary> The paper surveys electroweak baryogenesis as a framework to explain the baryon asymmetry of the universe, focusing on how baryon-number-violating processes in the electroweak sector (via sphalerons) interact with CP violation and the dynamics of the electroweak phase transition. It evaluates zero- and finite-temperature baryon-number violation, discusses Standard Model and beyond-Standard Model CP-violating sources (notably in two-Higgs models and the MSSM), and analyzes both local and nonlocal baryogenesis mechanisms. The work emphasizes nonperturbative approaches, including lattice simulations and real-time dynamics, to assess the viability of EWBG, and highlights defect-mediated scenarios as alternatives that relax constraints on the phase transition. It concludes that while the SM alone cannot generate the observed BAU, plausible extensions—especially the MSSM and two-Higgs frameworks—offer testable pathways that can be probed by EDM measurements and collider experiments.

Abstract

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 approaches, numerical studies, up to date developments and open questions in the field are also discussed.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 39 sections, 183 equations, 10 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Baryon Number Violation in the Electroweak Theory
  3. Zero temperature results
  4. Nonzero temperature results
  5. A Mechanical Analogy
  6. The Electroweak Theory
  7. C and CP Violation
  8. Standard Model CP Violation: the KM Matrix
  9. The Two-Higgs Doublet Model
  10. CP Violation from Higher Dimension Operators
  11. General Treatment
  12. The Electroweak Phase Transition
  13. The finite temperature effective potential
  14. Dimensional Reduction
  15. Numerical Simulations -- Lattice Approaches
  16. ...and 24 more sections

Figures (10)

  • Figure 1:
  • Figure 2:
  • Figure 3:
  • Figure 4:
  • Figure 5:
  • ...and 5 more figures