Resonant flavor oscillations in electroweak baryogenesis

Abstract

Electroweak baryogenesis (EWBG) in extensions of the standard model will be tested quantitatively in upcoming nuclear and particle physics experiments, but only to the extent that theoretical computations are robust. Currently there exist orders-of-magnitude discrepancies between treatments of charge transport dynamics during EWBG performed by different groups, each relying on different sets of approximations. In this work, we introduce a consistent power-counting scheme (in ratios of length scales) for treating systematically the dynamics of EWBG: CP-asymmetric flavor oscillations, collisions, and diffusion. Within the context of a simplified model of EWBG, we derive the relevant Boltzmann equations using nonequilibrium field theory, and solve them exactly without ansatz for the functional form of the density matrices. We demonstrate the existence of a resonant enhancement in charge production when the flavor oscillation length is comparable to the wall thickness. We compare our results with the existing treatment of EWBG by Konstandin, Prokopec, Schmidt, and Seco (KPSS) who previously identified the importance of flavor oscillations in EWBG. We conclude: (i) the power counting of KPSS breaks down in the resonant regime, and (ii) this leads to substantial underestimation of the charge generated in the unbroken phase, and potentially of the final baryon asymmetry.