COSMIC STRINGS AND ELECTROWEAK BARYOGENESIS

The electroweak symmetry is unbroken in the core of cosmic strings originating from a symmetry breaking at an energy higher than the electroweak scale eta(EW). The dynamics of such strings may generate a baryon asymmetry below die electroweak symmetry breaking scale. This mechanism for electroweak baryogenesis is most efficient if the scale of string formation is only slightly higher than eta(EW) (eg. in theories of dynamical symmetry breaking) and if die strings are superconducting. The mechanism is also effective if the electroweak phase transition is second order.