Spontaneous CPT violation and quantum anomalies in a model for matter–antimatter asymmetry in the Cosmos †

Abstract

We review scenarios of baryogenesis through leptogenesis at early epochs of the universe, in string-inspired minimal extensions of the Standard Model (SM), involving heavy right-handed Majorana neutrinos. Spontaneous violation of CPT symmetry is induced by appropriate (in general, temperature-dependent) backgrounds of the Kalb–Ramond (KR) axion field, which has its origins in the (bosonic) massless string multiplet. As interesting features of the model, we also discuss two issues associated with quantum (chiral) anomalies: (i) the non-contribution of the KR axion background to the (anomalous) chiral magnetic effect, which arises in the presence of external electromagnetic fields and non-zero chiral chemical potentials of charged fermions; and (ii) the potential role of quantum fluctuations of the KR axion on the (anomalous) radiative generation of a Majorana mass for the right-handed neutrinos themselves.