Eur. Phys. J. C (2015) 75: 514
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-015-3731-z

Regular Article - Theoretical Physics

On the possibility of tree-level leptogenesis from Kalb–Ramond torsion background

¹ Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology Group, Department of Physics, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK
² Theory Division, Physics Department, CERN, 1211, Geneva 23, CH, Switzerland

^* e-mail: sarben.sarkar@kcl.ac.uk

Received: 18 March 2015
Accepted: 12 October 2015
Published online: 29 October 2015

Abstract

In this work we consider a phenomenological model for leptogenesis in the context of a Standard Model Extension with an axial-like background coupling to fermions that violates both Lorentz and CPT symmetries. The latter is motivated by a background geometry of the early Universe involving a particular kind of torsion, arising from the Kalb–Ramond antisymmetric tensor field which appears in the gravitational multiplet of string theory, although we do not restrict ourselves to this framework. It is shown that leptogenesis can occur even at tree level and with only one generation of right-handed heavy Majorana neutrinos, due to and CPT violation introduced by the background geometry. Important issues for the model, including (a) its compatibility with a conventional-like cosmology and (b) current-era phenomenology (characterised by very stringent bounds on the allowed amount of torsion) are pointed out, and potential ways of resolving them, within the framework of string-theory models, are discussed.