Neutrino cosmology and baryon asymmetry

• Grant number: 14/11744-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: July 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Extragalactic Astrophysics
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Cunha de Holanda
• Grantee: Anderson Luiz Brandão de Souza
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

One of the open problems in modern cosmology is to understand the asymmetry between matter and antimatter in our universe, called the baryon asymmetry. In the current Standard Cosmological Model, the Lambda-CDM, it is understood that this asymmetry is derived from a small asymmetry in the early universe, the order of one part in 10^{10}. Some theories attempt to explain such a baryon asymmetry through a violation of CP symmetry in the lepton sector, involving neutrinos, and a transmission for the baryon sector. That mechanism is called of Leptogenesis. This research project aims to study the possible contribution of neutrinos in the current asymmetry between matter and antimatter. (AU)