Leptogenesis from a GeV Seesaw without Mass Degeneracy

TL;DR

This paper provides a systematic quantum field theory calculation showing that GeV-scale sterile neutrinos with non-degenerate masses can generate the universe's baryon asymmetry through flavoured Leptogenesis, clarifying its relation to oscillation scenarios.

Contribution

It offers a new systematic approach to calculating flavoured Leptogenesis with non-degenerate GeV-scale sterile neutrinos, connecting oscillation and decay mechanisms.

Findings

Sterile neutrinos in the GeV range can produce baryon asymmetry via flavoured Leptogenesis.

Thermal and flavour effects interplay enables leptogenesis without mass degeneracy.

Lower mass bounds from decay-based leptogenesis do not restrict flavoured Leptogenesis at GeV scales.

Abstract

For Leptogenesis based on the type-I seesaw mechanism, we present a systematic calculation of lepton-number violating and purely flavoured asymmetries within nonequilibrium Quantum Field Theory. We show that sterile neutrinos with non-degenerate masses in the GeV range can explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe via flavoured Leptogenesis. This is possible due to the interplay of thermal and flavour effects. Our approach clarifies the relation between Leptogenesis from the oscillations of sterile neutrinos and the more commonly studied scenarios from decays and inverse decays. We explain why lower mass bounds for non-degenerate sterile neutrinos derived for Leptogenesis from out-of-equilibrium decays do not apply to flavoured Leptogenesis with GeV-scale neutrinos.