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Jacopo Azzola

Publications and source records attributed to Jacopo Azzola.

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Baryon Asymmetry from Electroweak-Symmetric Domain Walls

We investigate electroweak baryogenesis from domain walls with electroweak-symmetric cores moving through the electroweak-broken plasma. In the thick-wall regime, CP-violating semiclassical forces generate chiral asymmetries that source baryon number through transport and weak sphaleron processes. We show that the baryon yield is governed by the hierarchy between the wall width, the CP-violating source width, and the diffusion length, and we identify the corresponding scaling behavior in the relevant parametric limits. A distinctive feature of this mechanism is the interference between the two faces of the domain wall, which leads to qualitatively different behavior for CP-violating sources that are even or odd under wall-orientation reversal. We construct a simplified description that captures these effects and reproduces the predictions of the full transport system in a broad range of parameter space. Applying our framework to a singlet-extended Standard Model, we delineate the region in which electroweak-symmetric domain walls can generate the observed baryon asymmetry.

hep-ph

Inverse Electroweak Baryogenesis

We propose a mechanism for baryogenesis in which the baryon asymmetry is generated as an equilibrium response of weak sphalerons in a region where electroweak sphaleron transitions remain unsuppressed, $h/T\lesssim 1$. A nonzero equilibrium baryon density arises in the presence of an approximately conserved global charge, carried either by new states with nonzero hypercharge, or by Standard Model fields themselves. The required global charge asymmetry is generated during a phase transition that changes the strength of electroweak symmetry breaking, but need not coincide with the final electroweak phase transition. In particular, the mechanism can operate during an inverse electroweak phase transition, where baryon number is produced behind the advancing wall, in contrast to conventional electroweak baryogenesis. Because baryon production is decoupled from a direct first-order electroweak phase transition, the scenario can be realized at parametrically higher temperatures than standard electroweak baryogenesis, thereby weakening current experimental constraints. This framework provides a qualitatively distinct route to electroweak baryogenesis, with different parametric dependence, phase-transition dynamics, and phenomenological signatures.

hep-ph

Minimal Electroweak Baryogenesis via Domain Walls

The Standard Model extended by a real scalar singlet $S$ with an approximate $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry offers a minimal framework for realizing electroweak baryogenesis (EWBG) during a first-order electroweak phase transition. In this work, we explore a novel mechanism where spontaneous $\mathbb{Z}_2$ breaking enables EWBG via domain walls separating two distinct phases of the $S$ field. These domain walls feature restored (or weakly broken) EW symmetry in their cores and sweep through space, generating the baryon asymmetry below the temperature of EW symmetry breaking. We identify the key conditions for the existence of EW-symmetric domain wall cores and analyze the dynamics required for wall propagation over sufficient spatial volumes. Additionally, we outline the CP-violating sources necessary for baryogenesis under different regimes of domain wall evolution. The parameter space accommodating this mechanism spans singlet masses from sub-eV to 15 GeV, accompanied by a non-vanishing mixing with the Higgs boson. Unlike the standard realization of EWBG in the minimal singlet-extended SM, which is notoriously difficult to test, our scenario can be probed by a wide range of existing and upcoming experiments, including fifth force searches, rare meson decays, and EDM measurements.

hep-ph