Electroweak Baryogenesis

Abstract

Contrary to naive cosmological expectations, all evidence suggests that the universe contains an abundance of matter over antimatter. This article reviews the currently popular scenario in which testable physics, present in the standard model of electroweak interactions and its modest extensions, is responsible for this fundamental cosmological datum. A pedagogical explanation of the motivations and physics behind electroweak baryogenesis is provided, and analytical approaches, numerical studies, up to date developments and open questions in the field are also discussed.

Comments: 113 pages, 10 figures, uses RevTeX. References added, several sections slightly expanded. To appear in Reviews of Modern Physics, October 1999