Thermal leptogenesis and the gravitino problem in the Asaka-Yanagida axion/axino dark matter scenario

TL;DR

This paper explores how the AY scenario in the PQMSSM can reconcile high reheat temperatures needed for thermal leptogenesis with gravitino overproduction issues, by analyzing axion/axino dark matter relic abundance and cosmological constraints.

Contribution

It provides a detailed calculation of relic axion/axino abundance in the AY scenario and identifies conditions for successful leptogenesis without conflicting with BBN constraints.

Findings

High PQ scale suppresses axino overproduction

Low neutralino abundance avoids BBN constraints

Late decaying saxions help reconcile leptogenesis with gravitino problem

Abstract

A successful implementation of thermal leptogenesis requires the re-heat temperature after inflation T_R to exceed ~2\times 10^9 GeV. Such a high T_R value typically leads to an overproduction of gravitinos in the early universe, which will cause conflicts, mainly with BBN constraints. Asaka and Yanagida (AY) have proposed that these two issues can be reconciled in the context of the Peccei-Quinn augmented MSSM (PQMSSM) if one adopts a mass hierarchy m(sparticle)>m(gravitino)>m(axino), with m(axino) keV. We calculate the relic abundance of mixed axion/axino dark matter in the AY scenario, and investigate under what conditions a value of T_R sufficient for thermal leptogenesis can be generated. A high value of PQ breaking scale f_a is needed to suppress overproduction of axinos, while a small vacuum misalignment angle \theta_i is needed to suppress overproduction of axions. The large value of f_a results in late decaying neutralinos. To avoid BBN constraints, the AY scenario requires a low thermal abundance of neutralinos and high values of neutralino mass. We include entropy production from late decaying saxions, and find the saxion needs to be typically at least several times heavier than the gravitino. A viable AY scenario suggests that LHC should discover a spectrum of SUSY particles consistent with weak scale supergravity; that the apparent neutralino abundance is low; that a possible axion detection signal (probably with m_axion in the sub-micro-eV range) should occur, but no direct or indirect signals for WIMP dark matter should be observed.