Unifying inflation with the axion, dark matter, baryogenesis and the seesaw mechanism
by
Carlos Tamarit(IPPP, Durham University)
→
Europe/London
Description
A minimal extension of the Standard Model (SM) providing a complete and consistent picture of particle physics and cosmology up to the Planck scale is presented. We add to the SM three right-handed SM-singlet neutrinos, a new vector-like color triplet fermion and a complex SM singlet scalar σ whose vacuum expectation value at ∼10^11 GeV breaks lepton number and a Peccei-Quinn symmetry simultaneously. Primordial inflaton is produced by a combination of σ and the SM Higgs. Baryogenesis proceeds via thermal leptogenesis. At low energies, the model reduces to the SM, augmented by seesaw-generated neutrino masses, plus the axion, which solves the strong CP problem and accounts for the dark matter in the Universe. The model can be probed decisively by the next generation of cosmic microwave background and axion dark matter experiments.
