Lepton asymmetry and the cosmic QCD transition

Abstract

We study the influence of lepton asymmetry on the evolution of the early Universe. The lepton asymmetry $l$ is poorly constrained by observations and might be orders of magnitude larger than the baryon asymmetry $b$, $|l|/b\le 2\times 10^8$. We find that lepton asymmetries that are large compared to the tiny baryon asymmetry, can influence the dynamics of the QCD phase transition significantly. The cosmic trajectory in the ${\mu }_B-T$ phase diagram of strongly interacting matter becomes a function of lepton (flavour) asymmetry. Large lepton asymmetry could lead to a cosmic QCD phase transition of first order.

Comments: 23 pages, 14 figures; matches published version, including Erratum. Conclusions, pictures, numerics remained unchanged