Baryogenesis via Neutrino Oscillations

Abstract

We propose a new mechanism of leptogenesis in which the asymmetries in lepton numbers are produced through the $\mathrm{CP}$-violating oscillations of ``sterile'' (electroweak singlet) neutrinos. The asymmetry is communicated from singlet neutrinos to ordinary leptons through their Yukawa couplings. The lepton asymmetry is then reprocessed into baryon asymmetry by electroweak sphalerons. We show that the observed value of baryon asymmetry can be generated in this way, and the masses of ordinary neutrinos induced by the seesaw mechanism are in the astrophysically and cosmologically interesting range. Except for singlet neutrinos, no physics beyond the standard model is required.