arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Alexander Kusenko.
Supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of Q-balls, some of which can be entirely stable. Both stable and unstable Q-balls can play an important role in cosmology. In particular, Affleck-Dine baryogenesis can result in a copious production of stable baryonic Q-balls, which can presently exist as a form of dark matter. Formation and decay of unstable Q-balls can also have some important effects on baryogenesis and phase transitions.
Certain inflation models undergo pre-heating, in which inflaton oscillations can drive parametric resonance instabilities. We discuss several phenomena stemming from such instabilities, especially in weak-scale models; generically, these involve energizing a resonant system so that it can evade tunneling by crossing barriers classically. One possibility is a spontaneous change of phase from a lower-energy vacuum state to one of higher energy, as exemplified by an asymmetric double-well potential with different masses in each well. If the lower well is in resonance with oscillations of the potential, a system can be driven resonantly to the upper well and stay there (except for tunneling) if the upper well is not resonant. Another example occurs in hybrid inflation models where the Higgs field is resonant; the Higgs oscillations can be transferred to electroweak (EW) gauge potentials, leading to rapid transitions over sphaleron barriers and consequent B+L violation. Given an appropriate CP-violating seed, we find that preheating can drive a time-varying condensate of Chern-Simons number over large spatial scales; this condensate evolves by oscillation as well as decay into modes with shorter spatial gradients, eventually ending up as a condensate of sphalerons. We study these examples numerically and to some extent analytically. The emphasis in the present paper is on the generic mechanisms, and not on specific preheating models; these will be discussed in a later paper.
Relic neutrinos with mass 0.07 (+0.02/-0.04) eV, in the range consistent with Super-Kamiokande data, can explain the cosmic rays with energies in excess of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff. The spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays produced in this fashion has some distinctive features that may help identify their origin. Our mechanism does not require but is consistent with a neutrino density high enough to be a new kind of hot dark matter.
Shock waves in cold nuclear matter, e.g. those induced by a collision of two neutron stars, can generate a large number of gamma photons via parametric resonance. We study the resonant production of gamma rays inside a shocked neutron star and discuss the possible astrophysical consequences of this phenomenon.
Several mechanisms based on neutrino oscillations can explain the observed motions of pulsars if the magnetic field in their interiors is of order 10^{14}-10^{15} G.
We present a novel scenario for baryogenesis in a hybrid inflation model at the electroweak scale, in which the Standard Model Higgs field triggers the end of inflation. One of the conditions for successful baryogenesis, the departure from thermal equilibrium, is naturally achieved at the stage of preheating after inflation. The inflaton oscillations induce large occupation numbers for long-wavelength configurations of Higgs and gauge fields, which leads to a large rate of sphaleron transitions. We estimate this rate during the first stages of reheating and evaluate the amount of baryons produced due to a particular type of higher dimensional CP violating operator. The universe thermalizes through fermion interactions, at a temperature below critical, $T_{rh} < 100$ GeV, preventing the wash-out of the produced baryon asymmetry. Numerical simulations in (1+1) dimensions support our theoretical analysis.
Fragmentation of the Affleck-Dine condensate into Q-balls could fill the Universe with dark matter either in the form of stable baryonic balls, or LSP produced from the decay of unstable Q-balls. The dark matter and the ordinary matter in the Universe may share the same origin.
Neutrino oscillations can explain the observed motion of pulsars. We show that two different models of neutrino emission from a cooling neutron star are in good quantitative agreement and predict the same order of magnitude for the pulsar kick velocity, consistent with the data.
We argue that in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model with a large trilinear coupling both the fundamental Higgs boson and a bound state of squarks (formed via strong scalar interaction) can have a non-zero VEV. This alters drastically the pattern of electroweak-symmetry breaking and the Higgs phenomenology. In particular, the upper bound on the supersymmetric Higgs-boson mass may be relaxed. Also, the Higgs boson can be produced at hadron colliders through a direct coupling to gluons.
Supersymmetric models predict a natural dark-matter candidate, stable baryonic Q-balls. They could be copiously produced in the early Universe as a by-product of the Affleck-Dine baryogenesis. I review the cosmological and astrophysical implications, methods of detection, and the present limits on this form of dark matter.
MSSM predicts the existence of Q-balls, some of which can be entirely stable. Both stable and unstable Q-balls can play an important role in cosmology. In particular, Affleck-Dine baryogenesis can result in a copious production of stable baryonic Q-balls, which can presently exist as a form of dark matter.
A small asymmetry in the flux of neutrinos emitted by a hot newly-born neutron star could explain the observed motions of pulsars. However, even in the presence of parity-violating processes with anisotropic scattering amplitudes, no asymmetry is generated in thermal equilibrium. We explain why this no-go theorem stymies some of the proposed explanations for the pulsar ``kick'' velocities.
The trilinear couplings of squarks and sleptons to the Higgs bosons can give rise to a spectrum of bound states with exotic quantum numbers, for example, those of a leptoquark.
Acoustic shock waves passing through colliding cold neutron stars can cause repetitive superconducting phase transitions in which the proton condensate relaxes to its equilibrium value via coherent oscillations. As a result, a resonant non-thermal production of gamma rays in the MeV energy range with power up to 10^(52) erg/s can take place during the short period of time before the nuclear matter is heated by the shock waves.
Theories with low-energy supersymmetry predict the existence of stable non-topological solitons, Q-balls, that can contribute to dark matter. We discuss the experimental signatures, methods of detection, and the present limits on such dark matter candidates.
Electroweak models with low-energy supersymmetry breaking predict the existence of stable non-topological solitons, Q-balls, that can be produced in the early universe. The relic Q-balls can accumulate inside a neutron star and gradually absorb the baryons into the scalar condensate. This causes a slow reduction in the mass of the star. When the mass reaches a critical value, the neutron star becomes unstable and explodes. The cataclysmic destruction of the distant neutron stars may be the origin of the gamma-ray bursts.
We formulate a set of simple sufficient conditions for the existence of Q-balls in gauge theories.
Supersymmetric extensions of the standard model generically contain stable non-topological solitons, Q-balls, which carry baryon or lepton number. We show that large Q-balls can be copiously produced in the early universe, can survive until the present time, and can contribute to dark matter.