Asymmetric sneutrino dark matter and the Omega(b)/Omega(DM) puzzle

Abstract

The inferred values of the cosmological baryon and dark matter densities are strikingly similar, but in most theories of the early universe there is no true explanation of this fact; in particular, the baryon asymmetry and thus density depends upon unknown, and a priori unknown and possibly small, CP-violating phases which are independent of all parameters determining the dark matter density. We consider models of dark matter possessing a particle-antiparticle asymmetry where this asymmetry determines both the baryon asymmetry and strongly effects the dark matter density, thus naturally linking Omega(b) and Omega(dm). We show that sneutrinos can play the role of such dark matter in a previously studied variant of the MSSM in which the light neutrino masses result from higher-dimensional supersymmetry-breaking terms. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.