We investigate non-inertial effects on $CP$-violating processes using a model, based on the framework of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes, devised to account for the decay of accelerated particles. We show that the $CP$ violation parameter for the decay of accelerated kaons into two pions decreases very slightly as very high accelerations are achieved, implying decreased asymmetry between matter and antimatter in this regime. We discuss the relationship between these results and cosmological processes surrounding matter-antimatter asymmetry and argue that, due to the connection between non-inertial and thermal phenomena established by the Unruh effect, this kind of computation may prove useful in furthering the understanding of thermodynamical effects in curved spacetimes.
A CPT violating decoherence scenario can easily account for all the experimental evidence in the neutrino sector including LSND. In this work it is argued that this framework can also accommodate the Dark Energy content of the Universe, as well as the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry.
We show that Loop Quantum Gravity provides new mechanisms through which observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe can naturally arise at temperatures less than GUT scale. This is enabled through the introduction of a new length scale ${\cal L}$, much greater than Planck length ($l_P$), to obtain semi-classical weave states in the theory. This scale which depends on the momentum of the particle modifies the dispersion relation for different helicities of fermions and leads to lepton asymmetry.
The possibility is raised that the observed cosmological matter-antimatter asymmetry may reside in asymmetric space-time fluctuations and their interplay with the Stckelberg-Feynman interpretation of antimatter. The presented thesis also suggests that the effect of space-time fluctuations is to diminish the fine structure constant in the past. Recent studies of the QSO absorption lines provide a 4.1 standard deviation support for this prediction. Our considerations suggest that in the presence of space-time fluctuations, the principle of local gauge invariance, and the related notion of parall…
Some of the recent work on quantum gravity has involved modified uncertainty relations such that the products of the uncertainties of certain pairs of observables increase with time. It is here observed that this type of modified uncertainty relations would lead to quantum decoherence, which could explain the classical behavior of macroscopic systems, and CPT violation, which coud provide the seed for the emergence of a matter-antimatter asymmetry.
Current astronomical observations are successfully explained by the present cosmological paradigm based on the concordance model ($Λ_0$CDM + Inflation). However, such a scenario is composed of a heterogeneous mix of ingredients for describing the different stages of cosmological evolution. Particularly, it does not give an unified explanation connecting the early and late time accelerating inflationary regimes which are separated by many aeons. Other challenges to the concordance model include: a singularity at early times or the emergence of the Universe from the quantum gravity regime, the "…
Using a more accurate effective Hamiltonian governing the time evolution in the particle-antiparticle subspace of states than the one obtained within the Lee-Oehme--Yang approach we show that in the case of particles created at the initial instant t = 0 only the masses of a stable particle and its antiparticle are the same at all t > 0 in a CPT invariant system, whereas the masses of an unstable particle and its antiparticle are equal only at t = 0 and then during their time evolution they become slightly different for times t >> 0 if CP symmetry is violated but CPT symmetry holds. This proper…
In this work, we propose an economical model to address some open cosmological problems such as the absence of the initial cosmological singularity, an early acceleration of the Universe and the generation of matter-antimatter asymmetry. The model is based on a scenario in which the early Universe consists of a non-linear electrodynamics fields. It is found that the non-linear electrodynamics model has an equation of state $p=\frac{1}{3} ρ- \frac{4}{3} βρ^{1+α}$ which shows that the Universe undergoes an early epoch acceleration to a radiation era given by $p =\frac{1}{3} ρ$. We show that the …
In four-space-time dimensional string/brane theory, obtained either through compactification of the extra spatial dimensions, or by appropriate restriction to brane worlds with three large spatial dimensions, the rich physics potential associated with the presence of non-trivial Kalb-Ramond (KR) axion-like fields has not been fully exploited so far. In this talk, I discuss a scenario whereby such fields produce spontaneous Lorentz- and CPT-violating cosmological backgrounds over which strings propagate, which in the early Universe can lead to Baryogenesis through Leptogenesis in models with he…
We show that a CP-violating interaction induced by a derivative coupling between the running vacuum and a non-conserving baryon current may dynamically break CPT and trigger baryogenesis through an effective chemical potential. By assuming a non-singular class of running vacuum cosmologies which provides a complete cosmic history (from an early inflationary de Sitter stage to the present day quasi-de Sitter acceleration), it is found that an acceptable baryon asymmetry is generated for many different choices of the model parameters. It is interesting that the same ingredient (running vacuum en…
We present a model for the Universe in which quantum anomalies are argued to play an important dual role: they are responsible for generating matter-antimatter asymmetry, but also provide time-dependent contributions to the vacuum energy density of "running-vacuum" type, which drive the Universe evolution. During the inflationary phase of a string-inspired Universe, and its subsequent exit, the existence of primordial gravitational waves induce gravitational anomalies, which couple to the Kalb-Ramond (KR)axion field of the massless gravitational string multiplet. Such anomalous CP violating in…
We propose a simple scenario which explains the observed matter-antimatter imbalance and the origin of dark matter in the Universe. We use the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity which naturally extends general relativity to include the intrinsic spin of matter. Spacetime torsion produced by spin generates, in the classical Dirac equation, the Hehl-Datta term which is cubic in spinor fields. We show that under a charge-conjugation transformation this term changes sign relative to the mass term. A classical Dirac spinor and its charge conjugate therefore satisfy different field equa…
The simplest possibility to explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe is to assume that radiation is created asymmetrically between baryons and anti-baryons after the inflation. We propose a new mechanism of this kind where CP-violating flavor oscillations of left-handed leptons in the reheating era distribute the lepton asymmetries partially into the right-handed neutrinos while net asymmetry is not created. The asymmetry stored in the right-handed neutrinos is later washed out by the lepton number violating decays, and it ends up with the net lepton asymmetry in the Standard Model particl…
We review scenarios of baryogenesis through leptogenesis at early epochs of the universe, in string-inspired minimal extensions of the Standard Model (SM), involving heavy right-handed Majorana neutrinos. Spontaneous violation of CPT symmetry is induced by appropriate (in general, temperature-dependent) backgrounds of the Kalb-Ramond (KR) axion field, which has its origins in the (bosonic) massless string multiplet. As interesting features of the model, we also discuss two issues associated with quantum (chiral) anomalies: (i) the non-contribution of the KR axion background to the (anomalous) …
We describe a new mechanism - radiatively-induced gravitational leptogenesis - for generating the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe. We show how quantum loop effects in C and CP violating theories cause matter and antimatter to propagate differently in the presence of gravity, and prove this is forbidden in flat space by CPT and translation symmetry. This generates a curvature-dependent chemical potential for leptons, allowing a matter-antimatter asymmetry to be generated in thermal equilibrium in the early Universe. The time-dependent dynamics necessary for leptogenesis is provided …
A discrete quantum gravity model given by a quantum sequential growth process (QSGP) is considered. The QSGP describes the growth of causal sets (causets) one element at a time in discrete steps. It is shown that the set $\pscript$ of causets can be partitioned into three subsets $\pscript = (\rmant)\cup (\rmmix)\cup (\rmmat)$ where $\rmant$ is the set of pure antimatter causets, $\rmmat$ the set of pure matter causets and $\rmmix$ the set of mixed matter-antimatter causets. We observe that there is an asymmetry between $\rmant$ and $\rmmat$ which may explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry of…
It is shown, that self-gravitating systems can be classified by a dimensionless constant positive number $κ= S T / E$, which can be determined from the (global) values for the entropy, temperature and (total) energy. The Kerr-Newman black hole family is characterized by $κ$ in the range $0-1/2$, depending on the dimensionless ratios of angular momentum and charge squared to the horizon area, $J/A$ and $Q^2/A$. By analyzing the most general case of an ultra-relativistic ideal gas with non-zero chemical potential it is shown, that $κ$ is an important parameter which determines the (local) thermo…
The universality of free fall, the weak equivalence principle (WEP), is a cornerstone of the general theory of relativity, the most precise theory of gravity confirmed in all experiments up to date. The WEP states the equivalence of the inertial, $m$, and gravitational, $m_g$, masses and was tested in numerous occasions with normal matter at relatively low energies. However, there is no proof for the matter and antimatter at high energies. For the antimatter the situation is even less clear -- current direct observations of trapped antihydrogen suggest the limits $-65 < m_g / m < 110$ not excl…
I review a (3+1)-dimensional, string-inspired cosmological model with gravitational anomalies (of Chern-Simons (CS) type) at early epochs, and a totally-antisymmetric torsion, dual to a massless axion-like field ("gravitational axion"), which couples to the CS term. Under appropriate conditions, primordial gravitational waves can condense, leading to a condensate of the CS anomaly term. As a consequence, one obtains inflation in this theory, of running-vacuum-model (RVM) type, without the need for external inflatons. At the end of the inflationary era, chiral fermionic matter is generated, who…
This essay presents a new asymmetry that arises from the interplay of charge conjugation and Lense-Thirring effect. When applied to Majorana neutrinos, the effects predicts nu_e <-> overline{nu}_e oscillations in gravitational environments with rotating sources. Parameters associated with astrophysical environments indicate that the presented effect is presently unobservable for solar neutrinos. But, it will play an important role in supernova explosions, and carries relevance for the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe.
The gravitational properties of antimatter are still a secret of nature. One outstanding possibility is that there is a gravitational repulsion between matter and antimatter (in short we call it antigravity). We argue that in the case of antigravity the collapse of a black hole doesn't end with singularity and that deep inside the horizon, the gravitational field may be sufficiently strong to create (from the vacuum) neutrino-antineutrino pairs of all flavours. The created antineutrinos (neutrinos) should be violently ejected outside the horizon of a black hole composed from matter (antimatter…
A popular class of theories attributes the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe to CP-violating decays of super-heavy BSM particles in the Early Universe. Recently, we discovered a new source of leptogenesis in these models, namely that the same Yukawa phases which provide the CP violation for decays, combined with curved-spacetime loop effects, lead to an entirely new gravitational mechanism for generating an asymmetry, driven by the expansion of the Universe and independent of the departure of the heavy particles from equilibrium. In this Letter, we build on previous work by analysing…
The baryon-antibaryon asymmetry (excess of matter over antimatter in our Universe), indicated by observational data from the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, predictions of primordial Nucleosynthesis, and the absence of intense radiation from matter-antimatter annihilation, constitutes an unsolved puzzle in cosmology. Two mechanisms for baryon asymmetry have been proposed as extensions of the Standard Model of Particle Physics at high energies. They rely on new couplings involving the baryon number current, one with a scalar field, called Spontaneous Baryogenesis, and the other with s…
In the following, we offer a novel approach to modeling the observed effects currently attributed to the theoretical concepts of `dark energy', `dark matter', and `dark flow'. Instead of assuming the existence of these theoretical concepts, we take an alternative route and choose to redefine what we consider to be inertial motion as well as what constitutes an inertial frame of reference in flat space-time. We adopt none of the features of our current cosmological models except for the requirement that special and general relativity be local approximations within our revised definition of iner…
If one analyses the quantum creation of the universe, it turns out that the most natural way in which the universes can be created is in pairs of universes whose time flow is reversely related. It means that the matter that propagates in one of the universes can be seen, from the point of view of the other universe, as antimatter, and viceversa. They thus form a universe-antiuniverse pair. From a global point of view, i.e. from the point of view of the whole multiverse ensemble, the creation of universes in universe-antiuniverse pairs restores the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in each i…
