Azadeh Maleknejad, "Gauge Fields in the Early Universe and their remnants in the Sky"

Wednesday 27 Nov 2024, 13:30 → 14:30 Europe/Stockholm

Albano 3: 6228 - Mega (22 seats) (Albano Building 3)

Abstract: Gauge fields, as the carriers of the fundamental forces, are the cornerstone of modern particle physics. In this talk, I will highlight recent progress in exploring their role during cosmic inflation and their observable signatures on the Sky. Specifically, I will discuss the intriguing case of non-Abelian (self-interacting) gauge fields in the context of axion inflation, showcasing their rich phenomenology and distinctive observable signatures on CMB and stochastic GW background.  A striking feature of these models is the spontaneous breaking of Parity and CP symmetries during inflation, which naturally sets the stage for generating the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe. I will also discuss a potential realization of this framework within extensions of the Standard Model, where a purely quantum effect—the chiral anomaly—emerges as a unifying mechanism for both baryogenesis and the production of right-handed neutrinos.