Search

The electroweak phase transition can be made first order by extending the Standard Model (SM) Higgs sector with extra scalars. The same new physics can explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe by supplying an extra source of CP violation and sphaleron processes. In this paper we study the existence of a strong first order electroweak phase transition (SFOEWPT) in the type-I and type-II two Higgs doublet models (2HDM). We focus on how the SFOEWPT requirement constraints the spectrum of non-SM Higgs. Through a parameter space scan, we find that SFOEWPT suggests upper limits on the masses of heavy Higgs $m_{A/H/H^\pm}$, which is less than 1 TeV. High temperature expansion and Higgs vacuum uplifting is used for an analytical understanding of our results. We also study the probe ability on SFOEWPT from Higgs and $Z$-pole precision measurements at the one-loop level at future Higgs & $Z$ factories. And together with theoretical constraints, sizeable loop corrections require $m_A \approx m_{H^\pm} > m_H$ to meet SFOEWPT condition in Type-II 2HDM., 26+12 pages, 10 figures

We propose an appealing alternative scenario of leptogenesis assisted by dark sector which leads to the baryon asymmetry of the Universe satisfying all theoretical and experimental constraints. The dark sector carries a non minimal set up of singlet doublet fermionic dark matter extended with copies of a real singlet scalar field. A small Majorana mass term for the singlet dark fermion, in addition to the typical Dirac term, provides the more favourable dark matter of pseudo-Dirac type, capable of escaping the direct search. Such a construction also offers a formidable scope to radiative generation of active neutrino masses. In the presence of a (non)standard thermal history of the Universe, we perform the detailed dark matter phenomenology adopting the suitable benchmark scenarios, consistent with direct detection and neutrino oscillations data. Besides, we have demonstrated that the singlet scalars can go through CP-violating out of equilibrium decay, producing an ample amount of lepton asymmetry. Such an asymmetry then gets converted into the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe through the non-perturbative sphaleron processes owing to the presence of the alternative cosmological background considered here. Unconventional thermal history of the Universe can thus aspire to lend a critical role both in the context of dark matter as well as in realizing baryogenesis, 33 pages, clarifications added at many places, results unchanged, version accepted for publication in JHEP

Physical review / D 106(7), 075022 (2022). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.106.075022, We propose a novel class of composite models that feature both a technicolor and a composite Higgs vacuum limit, resulting in an asymmetric dark matter candidate. These Techni-Composite Higgs models are based on an extended left-right electroweak symmetry with a pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson Higgs and stable dark matter candidates charged under a global $\mathrm{U}(1)_X$ symmetry, connected to the baryon asymmetry at high temperatures via the $SU(2)_{\rm R}$ sphaleron. We consider, as explicit examples, four-dimensional gauge theories with fermions charged under a new confining gauge group $G_{\rm HC} $., Published by Inst., Melville, NY

Electroweak baryogenesis (EWBG) is sourced by nonstandard $CP$-violating interactions of the Higgs boson with fermions, usually taken to be the top quark, enhanced by its large Yukawa coupling. Numerous papers have studied EWBG sourced by lighter fermions, including the tau lepton and off-diagonal quark mass terms. We critically reassess the viability of EWBG in these scenarios, comparing the predictions based on the semiclassical (WKB) formalism for the source term to those from the VEV insertion approximation (VIA), using updated values for the collision terms, and clarifying discrepancies in the definition of the weak sphaleron rate. The VIA systematically predicts a baryon asymmetry that is orders of magnitude larger than the WKB formalism. We trace this to the differing shapes of the $CP$-violating source terms in the two formalisms, showing that the additional spatial derivative in the WKB source term causes large cancellations when it is integrated over the bubble wall profile. An important exception is a source term from $c$-$t$ quark mixing, where the WKB prediction also allows for a realistically large baryon asymmetry. In contrast, the analogous $b$-$s$ mixing source is found to be orders of magnitude too small., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

Electroweak symmetry non-restoration up to high temperatures well above the electroweak scale offers new alternatives for baryogenesis. We propose a new approach for electroweak symmetry non-restoration via an inert Higgs sector that couples to the Standard Model Higgs as well as an extended scalar singlet sector. We implement renormalization group improvements and thermal resummation, necessary to evaluate the effective potential spanning over a broad range of energy scales and temperatures. We present examples of benchmark scenarios that allow for electroweak symmetry non-restoration all the way up to hundreds of TeV temperatures, and also feature suppressed sphaleron washout factors down to the electroweak scale. Our method for transmitting the Standard Model broken electroweak symmetry to an inert Higgs sector has several intriguing implications for (electroweak) baryogenesis, early universe thermal histories, and can be scrutinized through Higgs physics phenomenology and electroweak precision measurements at the HL-LHC., Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables; v2: matches published version

We show that black holes with a Schwarzschild radius of the order of the electroweak scale may act as seeds for the baryon number violation within the Standard model via sphaleron transitions. The corresponding rate is faster than the one in the pure vacuum and baryon number violation around black holes can take place during the evolution of the universe after the electroweak phase transition. We show however that this does not pose any threat for a pre-existing baryon asymmetry in the universe., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. v2: matching published version

Semiclassical processes such as production and decay of electroweak sphaleron in the Standard Model and also microscopic black hole in low scale gravity scenario typically involve large number of particles in final states. These large multiplicities can be distinctively seen in collisions of ultra-high-energy (UHE) neutrinos with Eν≳109 GeV and nucleons in the atmosphere of the Earth. Focusing on air-shower detector array experiments including Telescope Array Experiment (TA), Pierre-Auger Observatory (Auger), we propose strategic ways to discover and analyze such events.

We show how the sphaleron rate (the Minkowski rate for topological charge diffusion) can be determined by analytical continuation of the Euclidean topological-charge-density two-point function, which we investigate on the lattice, using gradient flow to reduce noise and provide improved operators which more accurately measure topology. We measure the correlators on large, fine lattices in the quenched approximation at 1.5Tc with high precision. Based on these data we first perform a continuum extrapolation at fixed physical flow time and then extrapolate the continuum estimates to zero flow time. The extrapolated correlators are then used to study the sphaleron rate by spectral reconstruction based on perturbatively motivated models.

In this work, we explain three beyond standard model (BSM) phenomena, namely neutrino masses, the baryon asymmetry of the Universe and Dark Matter, within a single model and in each explanation the right handed (RH) neutrinos play the prime role. Indeed by just introducing two RH neutrinos we can generate the neutrino masses by the Type-I seesaw mechanism. The baryon asymmetry of the Universe can arise from thermal leptogenesis from the decay of lightest RH neutrino before the decoupling of the electroweak sphaleron transitions, which redistribute the $ B-L $ number into a baryon number. At the same time, the decay of the RH neutrino can produce the Dark Matter (DM) as an asymmetric Dark Matter component. The source of CP violation in the two sectors is exactly the same, related to the complex couplings of the neutrinos. By determining the comoving number density for different values of the CP violation in the DM sector, we obtain a particular value of the DM mass after satisfying the relic density bound. We also give prediction for the DM direct detection (DD) in the near future by different ongoing DD experiments., 30 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, matches with the published version

We investigate whether successful Gravitational Leptogenesis can take place during an Ekpyrotic contraction phase. Two possible paths by which this can occur are coupling the Ekpyrotic scalar to a gravitational Chern-Simons term, or to a $ U(1) $ gauge field Chern-Simons term. These couplings lead to the production of chiral gravitational waves, which generate a lepton number asymmetry through the gravitational-lepton number anomaly. This lepton asymmetry is subsequently reprocessed by equilibrium sphaleron processes to produce a baryon asymmetry. We find successful Gravitational Leptogenesis to be possible in Ekpyrotic bounce cosmologies through both of these mechanisms., 31 pages, 17 figures

Models with singlet fields coupling to the Higgs can enable a strongly first order electroweak phase transition, of interest for baryogenesis and gravity waves. We improve on previous attempts to self-consistently solve for the bubble wall properties -- wall speed $v_w$ and shape -- in a highly predictive class of models with $Z_2$-symmetric singlet potentials. A new algorithm is implemented to determine $v_w$ and the wall profiles throughout the singlet parameter space in the case of subsonic walls, focusing on models with strong enough phase transitions to satisfy the sphaleron washout constraint for electroweak baryogenesis. We find speeds as low as $v_w \cong 0.1$ in our scan over parameter space, and the singlet must be relatively light to have a subsonic wall, $m_s \lesssim 135$ GeV., 19 pages, 15 figures

We propose a baryogenenesis mechanism that uses a rotating condensate of a Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking field and the dimension-five operator that gives Majorana neutrino masses. The rotation induces charge asymmetries for the Higgs boson and for lepton chirality through sphaleron processes and Yukawa interactions. The dimension-five interaction transfers these asymmetries to the lepton asymmetry, which in turn is transferred into the baryon asymmetry through the electroweak sphaleron process. QCD axion dark matter can be simultaneously produced by dynamics of the same PQ field via kinetic misalignment or parametric resonance, favoring an axion decay constant $f_a \lesssim 10^{10}$ GeV, or by conventional misalignment and contributions from strings and domain walls with $f_a \sim 10^{11}$ GeV. The size of the baryon asymmetry is tied to the mass of the PQ field. In simple supersymmetric theories, it is independent of UV parameters and predicts the supersymmtry breaking mass scale to be $\mathcal{O}(10-10^4)$ TeV, depending on the masses of the neutrinos and whether the condensate is thermalized during a radiation or matter dominated era. We also construct a theory where TeV scale supersymmetry is possible. Parametric resonance may give warm axions, and the radial component of the PQ field may give signals in rare kaon decays from mixing with the Higgs and in dark radiation., Comment: 71 pages, 6 Figures

Baryogenesis in the context of the compact $SU\left( 3\right)_C\otimes SU\left( 4\right)_{L}\otimes U\left( 1\right)_X$ model is investigated. Using the finite temperature effective potential approach together with unitarity, stability and no ghost masses constraints, the existence of a strong first order electroweak phase transition (EWPT) was shown and checked numerically during all steps of the spontaneous breakdown of the gauge symmetry of the model. Higgs masses regions fulfilling the EWPT criteria are also discussed. Moreover, and as a byproduct of our study, the B-violation via sphaleron was also emphasized., 25 pages, 11 figures

In models of baryogenesis based on Grand Unified Theories (GUTs), the baryon asymmetry of the universe is generated through the CP and baryon number violating, out-of-equilibrium decays of very massive gauge or Higgs bosons in the very early universe. Recent constraints on the scale of inflation and the subsequent temperature of reheating, however, have put pressure on many such models. In this paper, we consider the role that primordial black holes may have played in the process of GUT baryogenesis. Through Hawking evaporation, black holes can efficiently generate GUT Higgs or gauge bosons, regardless of the masses of these particles or the temperature of the early universe. Furthermore, in significant regions of parameter space, the black holes evaporate after the electroweak phase transition, naturally evading the problem of sphaleron washout that is normally encountered in GUT models based on $SU(5)$. We identify a wide range of scenarios in which black holes could facilitate the generation of the baryon asymmetry through the production and decays of GUT bosons., 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 appendix

In this paper we study the effect of electroweak sphaleron transition or electroweak phase transition (EWPT) in balancing baryon excess to the excess stable quarks of $4^{th}$ generation. Considering the conservation of all quantum number and charges, sphaleron transition between between baryons, leptons and $4^{th}$ family of leptons and quarks is possible. We have tried to established a possible definite relationship between the value and sign of the $4^{th}$ family excess relative to baryon asymmetry under the framework of second order EWPT. In passing by we show the small, yet negligible dilution in the pre-existing dark matter density due the sphaleron transition., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure

The observed Baryonic Asymmetry of the Universe (BAU) is usually expressed as the ratio of the baryon density to that of the photons. This key parameter enters calculations of primordial nucleosynthesis of such nuclei as d, t, He4, andLi7: all of them agree that its value is $$\displaystyle \begin{array}{@{}rcl@{}} n_B/n_\gamma \sim 6\times 10^{-10} \end{array} $$

The baryon asymmetry of the universe may be explained by rotations of the QCD axion in field space and baryon number violating processes. We consider the minimal extension of the Standard Model by a non-Abelian gauge interaction, $SU(2)_R$, whose sphaleron process violates baryon number. Assuming that axion dark matter is also created from the axion rotation by the kinetic misalignment mechanism, the mass scale of the $SU(2)_R$ gauge boson is fixed as a function of the QCD axion decay constant, and vise versa. Significant portion of the parameter space has already been excluded by new gauge boson searches, and the high-luminocity LHC will further probe the viable parameter space., Comment: 30 pages, 1 figure

We propose a novel class of composite models that feature both a technicolor and a composite Higgs vacuum limit, resulting in an asymmetric dark matter candidate. These Techni-Composite Higgs models are based on an extended left-right electroweak symmetry with a pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson Higgs and stable dark matter candidates charged under a global $\mathrm{U}(1)_X$ symmetry, connected to the baryon asymmetry at high temperatures via the $SU(2)_{\rm R}$ sphaleron. We consider, as explicit examples, four-dimensional gauge theories with fermions charged under a new confining gauge group $G_{\rm HC} $., Comment: 4 pages + bibliography + 7 pages of supplementary material, 1 figure

Let me begin with a qualitative picture. Like monopoles, sphalerons are 3-d magnetic objects made of SU(2) non-Abelian gauge fields. They are “solitons”, solutions of classical Yang-Mills eqn.

We propose a framework where a phase transition associated with a gauge symmetry breaking that occurs (not far) above the electroweak scale sets a stage for baryogenesis similar to the electroweak baryogenesis in the Standard Model. A concrete realization utilizes the breaking of $SU(2)_R \times U(1)_X \rightarrow U(1)_Y$. New chiral fermions charged under the extended gauge symmetry have nonzero lepton numbers, which makes the $B-L$ symmetry anomalous. The new lepton sector contains a large flavor-dependent CP violation, similar to the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa phase, without inducing sizable electric dipole moments of the Standard Model particles. A bubble wall dynamics associated with the first-order phase transition and $SU(2)_R$ sphaleron processes generate a lepton asymmetry, which is transferred into a baryon asymmetry via the ordinary electroweak sphaleron process. Unlike the Standard Model electroweak baryogenesis, the new phase transition can be of the strong first order and the new CP violation is not significantly suppressed by Yukawa couplings, so that the observed asymmetry can be produced. The model can be probed by collider searches for new particles and the observation of gravitational waves. One of the new leptons becomes a dark matter candidate. The model can be also embedded into a left-right symmetric theory to solve the strong CP problem., Comment: 61 pages, 9 figures

We present a freeze-in realization of the Dirac neutrinogenesis in which the decaying particle that generates the lepton-number asymmetry is in thermal equilibrium. As the right-handed Dirac neutrinos are produced non-thermally, the lepton-number asymmetry is accumulated and partially converted to the baryon-number asymmetry via the rapid sphaleron transitions. The necessary CP-violating condition can be fulfilled by a purely thermal kinetic phase from the wavefunction correction in the lepton-doublet sector, which has been neglected in most leptogenesis-based setup. Furthermore, this condition necessitates a preferred flavor basis in which both the charged-lepton and neutrino Yukawa matrices are non-diagonal. To protect such a proper Yukawa structure from the basis transformations in flavor space prior to the electroweak gauge symmetry breaking, we can resort to a plethora of model buildings aimed at deciphering the non-trivial Yukawa structures. Interestingly, based on the well-known tri-bimaximal mixing with a minimal correction from the charged-lepton or neutrino sector, we find that a simultaneous explanation of the baryon-number asymmetry in the Universe and the low-energy neutrino oscillation observables can be attributed to the mixing angle and the CP-violating phase introduced in the minimal correction., Comment: 28 pages and 7 figures; more discussions and one figure added, final version published in the journal

We start by considering the production rates of sphalerons with different sizes ρ in the symmetric phase, T>TEW. At small ρ, the distribution is cut off by the growing mass M∼1/ρ, and at large ρ by the magnetic screening mass. In the broken phase, T

Sphaleron is a non-perturbative solution of electroweak gauge theories, which is crucially important for the scenario of electroweak baryogenesis. The sphaleron energy depends on details of the mechanism for the electroweak symmetry breaking. We find that in many of new physics models the deviation of the sphaleron energy from the prediction in the standard model is proportional to that of the triple Higgs boson coupling with opposite signs. This interesting relation would be useful to determine the sphaleron energy by measuring this couplings at future collider experiments., 6 pages, 2 figures, Version published in Physics Letters B

We present an inverse seesaw mechanism by resorting to a U(1)B−L gauge symmetry. In order to cancel the gauge anomalies, we introduce nine neutral fermions among which six participate in the inverse seesaw, while the other three form a Dirac fermion and a massless fermion. In this inverse seesaw, three neutral fermions are the usual right-handed neutrinos while the other three have a small Majorana mass term. An additional seesaw mechanism for generating these small Majorana masses also explains the cosmic baryon asymmetry in association with the sphaleron processes. The Dirac fermion becomes a stable dark matter while the massless fermion decouples early.

By adding the dimension-six operator for the Higgs potential (denoted $\mathcal{O}_6$) in Standard Model, we have a first-order electroweak phase transition (EWPT) whose strength is larger than unity. The cutoff parameter of the dimension-six Higgs operator ($\Lambda$) is found to be in the range 593-860 GeV with the Wilson parameter equals to unity; it is also shown that the greater the $\Lambda$, the lower the phase transition strength and the larger the Wilson parameter, the wider the domain of $\Lambda$. At zero temperature, the sphaleron energy is calculated with a smooth ansatz and an ansatz with scale-free parameters, thereby we find that smooth profiles are not more accurate than profiles with scale-free parameters. Then, using the one-loop effective Higgs potential with the inclusion of $\mathcal{O}_6$ instead of all possible dimension-six operators, we directly calculate the electroweak sphaleron energy at finite temperature with the scale-free parameters ansatz and show that the decoupling condition is satisfied during the phase transition. Moreover, we can reevaluate the upper bound of the cutoff scale inferred from the first-order phase transition. In addition, with the upper bound of the cutoff parameter (about 800-860 GeV), EWPT is a solution to the energy scale of the dimension-six operators. There is an extended conclusion that EWPT can only be solved at a large energy scale than that of SM., Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures. We would like to thank all comments (of Amine Ahriche, Jorinde van de Vis, Carlos Tamarit, Michael Spannowsky, Mikael Chala, Graham White, Jordy de Vries) for arxiv:2003.09625v1 and the comments of the reviewer for DQ12720-Phong; matches journal version (PRD)

The knowledge of vortex nucleation barriers is crucial for applications of superconductors, such as single-photon detectors and superconductor-based qubits. Contrarily to the problem of finding energy minima and critical fields, there are no controllable methods to explore the energy landscape, identify saddle points, and compute associated barriers. Similar problems exist in high-energy physics where the saddle-point configurations are called sphalerons. Here, we present a generalization of the string method to gauge field theories, which allows the calculation of energy barriers in superconductors. We solve the problem of vortex nucleation, assessing the effects of the nonlinearity of the model, complicated geometry, surface roughness, and pinning., 12 pages, 14 figures

We present a purely linear seesaw mechanism in a left-right symmetric framework and then realize a novel leptogenesis scenario for parametrizing the cosmic baryon asymmetty by the charged lepton masses and the light Majorana neutrino mass matrix up to an overall factor. Through the same Yukawa couplings, the lepton-number-conserving decays of the mirror charged leptons can generate three individual lepton asymmetries stored in the ordinary lepton flavors, while the lepton-number-violating processes for the Majorana neutrino mass generation can wash out part of these lepton asymmetries. The remnant lepton asymmetries then can be partially converted to a baryon asymmetry by the sphaleron processes. Our scenario prefers a normal hierarchical neutrino spectrum so that it could be verified by the future data from cosmological observations, neutrino oscillations and neutrinoless double beta decay., 5 pages, 2 figures

We study and reveal the relation between the electroweak sphaleron energy and the gravitational wave signals from a first-order electroweak phase transition. For the first time, we find that a larger sphaleron energy corresponds to a stronger gravitational wave signal for a sufficiently strong phase transition. We also present the correlation between the sphaleron and the properties of the gravitational waves, such as the signal-to-noise ratio, peak frequency, and amplitude, with the intention that traces of the sphaleron can be obtained with detailed measurement and studies of the stochastic gravitational wave at future space-based detectors. This study paves the way for a more practical revelation of the sphaleron which is otherwise unprobable at high energy colliders.

We propose a formalism to obtain the electroweak sphaleron, which is one of the static classical solutions, using the gradient flow method. By adding a modification term to the gradient flow equation, we can obtain the sphaleron configuration as a stable fixed point of the flow in the large flow time. Applying the method to the $SU(2)$-Higgs model (the Weinberg angle $\theta_W$ is $0$) in four dimensions, we obtain the sphaleron configuration whose energy coincides with previous studies numerically. We can also show that the Chern-Simons number of the solution has a half-integer., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures; v2: published version

We elucidate a magnetic mass effect on a sphaleron energy that is crucial for baryon number preservation needed for successful electroweak baryogenesis. It is found that the sphaleron energy increases in response to the magnetic mass. As an application, we study the sphaleron energy and electroweak phase transition with the magnetic mass in a two-Higgs-doublet model. Although the magnetic mass can screen the gauge boson loops, it relaxes a baryon number preservation criterion more effectively, broadening the baryogenesis-possible region. Our findings would be universal in any new physics models as long as the gauge sector is common to the standard model., 5 pages, 2 figures; v2: some clarifications and references added, version accepted for publication as a Rapid Communication in PRD

The strength of electroweak symmetry breaking may substantially differ in the early Universe compared to the present day value. In the Standard Model, the Higgs vacuum expectation value (vev) vanishes and electroweak symmetry gets restored at temperatures above $\sim 160$ GeV due to the Higgs field interactions with the high-temperature plasma. It was however shown that new light singlet scalar fields may change this behaviour. The key feature is the non-standard dependence on the Higgs vev of the new particles mass which can vanish at large Higgs vev, inducing a negative correction to the Higgs thermal mass, leading to electroweak symmetry non-restoration at high temperature. We show that such an effect can also be induced by new singlet fermions which on the other hand have the advantage of not producing unstable directions in the scalar potential at tree level, nor bringing additional severe hierarchy problems. As temperature drops, such a high-temperature breaking phase may continuously evolve into the zero-temperature breaking phase or the two phases can be separated by a temporary phase of restored symmetry. We discuss how our construction can naturally arise in motivated models of new physics, such as Composite Higgs. This is particularly relevant for baryogenesis, as it opens a whole class of possibilities in which the baryon asymmetry can be produced during a high temperature phase transition, while not being erased later by sphalerons., Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, v2: published in JHEP with minor corrections

In an external magnetic field, the energy of the electroweak sphaleron---representing the energy barrier to baryon and lepton number violation---decreases but remains nonzero until the upper Ambjorn-Olesen critical field strength set by the Higgs mass and the electric charge, where it vanishes. We demonstrate this by numerically computing the sphaleron configuration in the presence of an external magnetic field, over the full range of field strengths until the energy barrier vanishes. We discuss the implications for baryogenesis in the early universe, and the possibility of observing of baryon and lepton number violation in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; corrected numerical error in Higgs self coupling, added references and minor corrections

The strength of electroweak symmetry breaking may substantially differ in the early Universe compared to the present day value. In the Standard Model, the Higgs vacuum expectation value (vev) vanishes and electroweak symmetry gets restored at temperatures above $\sim 160$ GeV due to the Higgs field interactions with the high-temperature plasma. It was however shown that new light singlet scalar fields may change this behaviour. The key feature is the non-standard dependence on the Higgs vev of the new particles mass which can vanish at large Higgs vev, inducing a negative correction to the Higgs thermal mass, leading to electroweak symmetry non-restoration at high temperature. We show that such an effect can also be induced by new singlet fermions which on the other hand have the advantage of not producing unstable directions in the scalar potential, nor introducing additional hierarchy problems. As temperature drops, such a high-temperature breaking phase may continuously evolve into the zero-temperature breaking phase or the two phases can be separated by a temporary phase of restored symmetry. We discuss how our construction can naturally arise in motivated models of new physics, such as Composite Higgs. This is particularly relevant for baryogenesis, as it opens a whole class of possibilities in which the baryon asymmetry can be produced during a high temperature phase transition, while not being erased later by sphalerons.

We review the current status of baryogenesis with emphasis on electroweak baryogenesis and leptogenesis. The first detailed studies were carried out for SU(5) GUT models where CP-violating decays of leptoquarks generate a baryon asymmetry. These GUT models were excluded by the discovery of B+L violating sphaleron processes at high temperatures. Yet a new possibility emerged, electroweak baryogenesis. Here sphaleron processes generate a baryon asymmetry during a strongly first-order phase transition. This mechanism has been studied in many extensions of the Standard Model. However, constraints from the LHC and from low-energy precision experiments exclude most of the known models, leaving composite Higgs models of electroweak symmetry breaking as an interesting possibility. Sphaleron processes are also the basis of leptogenesis, where CP-violating decays of heavy right-handed neutrinos generate a lepton asymmetry which is partially converted to a baryon asymmetry. This mechanism is closely related to the one of GUT baryogenesis, and simple estimates based on GUT models can explain the order of magnitude of the observed baryon-to-photon ratio. In the one-flavour approximation an upper bound on the light neutrino masses has been derived which is consistent with the cosmological upper bound on the sum of neutrino masses. For quasi-degenerate right-handed neutrinos the leptogenesis temperature can be lowered from the GUT scale down to the weak scale, and CP-violating oscillations of GeV sterile neutinos can also lead to successfull leptogenesis. Significant progress has been made in developing a full field theoretical description of thermal leptogenesis, which demonstrated that interactions with gauge bosons of the thermal plasma play a crucial role. Finally, we discuss recent ideas how the seesaw mechanism and B-L breaking at the GUT scale can be probed by gravitational waves.

Electroweak instantons are a prediction of the Standard Model and have been studied in great detail in the past although they have not been observed. Earlier calculations of the instanton production cross section at colliders revealed that it was exponentially suppressed at low energies, but may grow large at energies (much) above the sphaleron mass. Such calculations faced difficulty in the breakdown of the instanton perturbation theory in the high-energy regime. In this paper we review the calculation for the electroweak instanton cross section using the optical theorem, including quantum effects arising from interactions in the initial state and show that this leads to an exponential suppression of the cross section at all energies, rendering the process unobservable., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures

Reviews of modern physics 93(3), 035004 (1-45) (2021). doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.93.035004, The current status of baryogenesis is reviewed, with an emphasis on electroweak baryogenesis and leptogenesis. The first detailed studies were carried out for SU(5) grand unified theory (GUT) models where CP-violating decays of leptoquarks generate a baryon asymmetry. These GUT models were excluded by the discovery of unsuppressed, (B+L)-violating sphaleron processes at high temperatures. Yet a new possibility emerged: electroweak baryogenesis. Here sphaleron processes generate a baryon asymmetry during a strongly first-order phase transition. This mechanism has been studied in detail in many extensions of the standard model. However, constraints from the LHC and from low-energy precision experiments exclude most of the known models, leaving composite Higgs models of electroweak symmetry breaking as an interesting possibility. Sphaleron processes are also the basis of leptogenesis, where CP-violating decays of heavy right-handed neutrinos generate a lepton asymmetry that is partially converted to a baryon asymmetry. This mechanism is closely related to that of GUT baryogenesis, and simple estimates based on GUT models can explain the order of magnitude of the observed baryon-to-photon ratio. In the one-flavor approximation an upper bound on the light-neutrino masses has been derived that is consistent with the cosmological upper bound on the sum of neutrino masses. For quasidegenerate right-handed neutrinos the leptogenesis temperature can be lowered from the GUT scale down to the weak scale, and CP-violating oscillations of GeV sterile neutinos can also lead to successful leptogenesis. Significant progress has been made in developing a full field-theoretical description of thermal leptogenesis, which demonstrated that interactions with gauge bosons of the thermal plasma play a crucial role. Finally, recent ideas on how the seesaw mechanism and B-L breaking at the GUT scale can be probed by gravitational waves are discussed., Published by APS, College Park, Md.

We present first results of our study on the Euclidean topological charge density correlation function. In order to get a well defined topological charge density and to improve the signal of the correlation function at large separations we make use of the gradient flow. We investigate the flow-time dependence on fine quenched lattices. The final goal of this study is to perform a continuum extrapolation for the pure SU(3) plasma and to extract the related transport coefficient, the sphaleron rate., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Contribution to the 37th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory - Lattice2019, 16-22 June 2019, Wuhan, China

Sphaleron and instanton solutions of the Standard Model provide violation of baryon and lepton numbers and could lead to spectacular events at the LHC or future colliders. Certain models of new physics can also lead to sphaleron-like vacuum transitions. This nonperturbative physics could be relevant to the generation of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. We have developed BaryoGEN, an event generator that facilitates the exploration of sphaleron-like transitions in proton-proton collisions with minimal assumptions. BaryoGEN outputs standard Les Houches Event files that can be processed by PYTHIA, and the code is publicly available. We also discuss various approaches to experimental searches for such transitions in proton-proton collisions.

The sphaleron transition rate in gluodynamics at the temperature T /Tc = 1.24 has been calculated by lattice simulation. The calculations involve the Kubo formula, which relates the sphaleron transition rate to the correlation function of the topological charge density. The gradient flow method has been used to calculate the correlation function of the topological charge density. The Kubo formula has been inverted by the Backus–Gilbert method. The results have been compared to those obtained by other methods.