Speaker
Neil Barrie
Description
We investigate whether successful Gravitational Leptogenesis can take place during an Ekpyrotic contraction phase. Two possible paths by which this can occur are coupling the Ekpyrotic scalar to a gravitational Chern-Simons term, or to a U(1) gauge field Chern-Simons term. These couplings lead to the production of chiral gravitational waves, which generate a lepton number asymmetry through the gravitational-lepton number anomaly. This lepton asymmetry is subsequently reprocessed by equilibrium sphaleron processes to produce a baryon asymmetry. We find successful Gravitational Leptogenesis to be possible in Ekpyrotic bounce cosmologies through both of these mechanisms.
