A Unified Model for Inflation, pseudo-Goldstone Dark Matter, Neutrino Mass and Baryogenesis

TL;DR

This paper proposes a unified model linking inflation, neutrino mass, baryogenesis, and dark matter through lepton number symmetry breaking, connecting cosmological observations with particle physics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel unified framework where a single scalar field drives inflation, generates neutrino masses, explains baryogenesis, and produces pseudo-Goldstone dark matter.

Findings

The model successfully relates baryon asymmetry to dark matter mass.

It employs an inverse seesaw mechanism at low scale to preserve lepton asymmetry.

The approach offers an economical solution to multiple cosmological and particle physics puzzles.

Abstract

We present a unified theory of inflation, neutrino mass, baryogenesis and dark matter where global lepton number symmetry and its breaking play a crucial role. The basic idea is to use a lepton number carrying complex scalar field as the inflaton as well as the field that implements Affleck-Dine (AD) leptogenesis. Dark matter is the massive majoron which is a pseudo-Goldstone boson, resulting from the spontaneous breaking of lepton number symmetry supplemented by explicit lepton number violation needed to implement AD leptogenesis. The magnitude of the resulting $n_B/s$ in the model is related to the mass of the pseudo-Goldstone dark matter, connecting two apparently disconnected cosmological observations. Inverse seesaw mechanism with lepton number breaking at low scale is crucial to prevent washout of the lepton asymmetry during the universe's evolution. The model seems to provide an economical solution to several puzzles of the standard model of particle physics and cosmology in one stroke.