Unified model for inflation, pseudo-Goldstone dark matter, neutrino mass, and baryogenesis

We present a unified theory of inflation, neutrino mass, baryogenesis, and dark matter where global lepton number symmetry and its breaking play a crucial role. The basic idea is to use a lepton number carrying a complex scalar field as the inflaton as well as the field that implements Affleck-Dine (AD) leptogenesis. Dark matter is the massive Majoron which is a pseudo-Goldstone boson, resulting from the spontaneous breaking of lepton number symmetry supplemented by explicit lepton number violation needed to implement AD leptogenesis. The magnitude of the resulting nB/s in the model is related to the mass of the pseudo-Goldstone dark matter, connecting two apparently disconnected cosmological observations. An inverse seesaw mechanism with lepton number breaking at low scale is crucial to prevent washout of the lepton asymmetry during the universe's evolution. The model seems to provide an economical solution to several puzzles of the standard model of particle physics and cosmology in one stroke.

Automated summary

The paper presents a unified theory involving inflation, neutrino mass, baryogenesis, and dark matter. The basic idea is to use a complex scalar field as the inflaton and the field that implements AD leptogenesis. This theory provides an economical solution to several puzzles in the standard model and cosmology.