Baryogenesis via leptogenesis from quark-lepton symmetry\par and a compact heavy NRN_R spectrum

By demanding a compact spectrum for the right-handed neutrinos and an approximate quark-lepton symmetry inspired from SO(10) gauge unification (assuming a Dirac neutrino mass matrix close to the up quark mass matrix), we construct a {\it fine tuning} scenario for baryogenesis via leptogenesis. We find two solutions with a normal hierarchy, with the lightest neutrino mass $m_1$ different from zero, providing an absolute scale for the spectrum. In the approximations of the model, there are three independent CP phases : $\delta_L$ (that we take of the order of the quark Kobayashi-Maskawa phase) and the two light neutrino Majorana phases $\alpha$ and $\beta$. A main conclusion is that, although this general scheme is rather flexible, in some regions of parameter space we find that the necessary baryogenesis with its sign is given in terms of the $\delta_L$ phase alone. The light Majorana phases can also be computed and turn out to be close of $\pi/2$ or small. Moreover, SO(10) breaks down to the Pati-Salam group $SU(4) \times SU(2) \times SU(2)$ at the expected natural intermediate scale of about $10^{10}-10^{11}\ GeV$. A prediction is done for the effective mass in $(\beta \beta)_{0\nu}$ decay, the $\nu_e$ mass and the sum of all light neutrino masses.Comment: 51 pages and 16 figure

Neutrinoless double beta decay in SO(10) inspired seesaw models

By requiring the lower limit for the lightest right-handed neutrino mass, obtained in the baryogenesis from leptogenesis scenario, and a Dirac neutrino mass matrix similar to the up-quark mass matrix we predict small values for the $\nu_e$ mass and for the matrix element $m_{ee}$ responsible of the neutrinoless double beta decay, $m_{\nu_e}$ around $5\cdot10^{-3}$ eV and $m_{ee}$ smaller than $10^{-3}$ eV, respectively. The allowed range for the mass of the heaviest right-handed neutrino is centered around the value of the scale of B - L breaking in the SO(10) gauge theory with Pati-Salam intermediate symmetry.Comment: 9 pages, RevTex4. Revised, title change

Further experimental tests for simple relations between unpolarized and polarized quark parton distributions

Some simple relations between unpolarized and polarized quark parton distributions have direct experimental consequences which will be presented here. In particular, we will see that it is possible to relate the deep inelastic structure functions $F_2$ and $g_1$, both for proton and deuteron, in fair agreement with experimental data.Comment: 5 pages, in Latex, 3 figure

Bounds for the mass of the heaviest right-handed neutrino in SO(10) theories

By relating the Dirac neutrino mass matrix to the mass of the charged fermions and assuming that the product of the masses of the two lightest left-handed neutrinos is of the order of $\Delta m^2_{sol}$, we derive, within a leptogenesis scenario, a range of values for the mass of the heaviest right-handed neutrino, centered around the scale of $B-L$ symmetry breaking in the SO(10) theory with Pati-Salam intermediate symmetry.Comment: 7 pages, RevTex4. Few correction

Leptogenesis within a generalized quark-lepton symmetry

Quark-lepton symmetry has been shown to be inconsistent with baryogenesis via leptogenesis in natural schemes of the see-saw mechanism. Within the phenomenological approach of textures, we relax this strict symmetry and propose weaker conditions, namely models of the neutrino Dirac mass matrix $M_D$ which have the same hierarchy as the matrix elements of $M_u$. We call this guide-line generalized $hierarchical$ quark-lepton symmetry. We consider in detail particular cases in which the moduli of the matrix elements of $M_D$ are equal to those of $M_u$. Within the phenomenological approach of textures, we try for the heavy Majorana mass matrix diagonal and off-diagonal forms. We find that an ansatz for $M_D$ preserving the hierarchy, together with an off-diagonal model for the heavy Majorana neutrino mass, is consistent with neutrino masses, neutrino mixing and baryogenesis via leptogenesis for an intermediate mass scale $m_R \sim 10^{12}$ GeV. The preservation of the hierarchical structure could come from a possible symmetry scheme.Comment: 12 pages, RevTex4. Title and abstract changed. Revised and enlarged versio

Nonleptonic Cabibbo Favoured BB-Decays and CPCP-Asymmetries for Charmed Final Hadron States in Isgur and Wise Theory

The Cabibbo allowed non-leptonic $B$-decays in two hadrons are studied, within the factorization hypothesis, in the framework of Isgur and Wise theory for the matrix elements of the $\Delta B=-\Delta C=\pm 1$ weak currents. The $SU(2)_{HF}$ symmetry relates $|\Delta B|=1$ to $|\Delta C|=1$ currents, which have been measured in the semileptonic strange decays of charmed particles. By assuming colour screening and allowing for $SU(3)$ invariant contributions from the annihilation terms with charmed final states one is able to comply with the present experimental knowledge.\\ The $CP$ violating asymmetries in neutral $B$ decays are given for charmed final states in terms of the $K-M$ angles. With the central values found for the annihilation parameters there is a destructive (constructive) interference between the direct and annihilation terms in the Cabibbo allowed (doubly forbidden) amplitudes for the decays into $D^{0}(D^{*0})\pi^0$ and $D^0\rho^0$ so that they may be of the same order. This would imply large asymmetries, for which however our present knowledge on the amplitudes does not allow to predict even their sign.\\ We have better confidence in our predictions for the charged final states than the neutral ones and can draw the conclusion that the detection of the corresponding asymmetries requires, at least, $10^6$ tagged neutral $B$-particles.Comment: CERNTEX, 17 pages, DSF-92/23, INFN-NA-IV-92/2

Neutrino masses and mixings in SO(10)

Assuming a Zee-like matrix for the right-handed neutrino Majorana masses in the see-saw mechanism, one gets maximal mixing for vacuum solar oscillations, a very small value for $U_{e3}$ and an approximate degeneracy for the two lower neutrino masses. The scale of right-handed neutrino Majorana masses is in good agreement with the value expected in a SO(10) model with Pati-Salam SU(4)\ts SU(2)\ts SU(2) intermediate symmetry.Comment: 11 pages, no figures. References adde

Quantum Effects in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Cosmologies

Electrodynamics for self-interacting scalar fields in spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker space-times is studied. The corresponding one-loop field equation for the expectation value of the complex scalar field in the conformal vacuum is derived. For exponentially expanding universes, the equations for the Bogoliubov coefficients describing the coupling of the scalar field to gravity are solved numerically. They yield a non-local correction to the Coleman-Weinberg effective potential which does not modify the pattern of minima found in static de Sitter space. Such a correction contains a dissipative term which, accounting for the decay of the classical configuration in scalar field quanta, may be relevant for the reheating stage. The physical meaning of the non-local term in the semiclassical field equation is investigated by evaluating this contribution for various background field configurations.Comment: 17 pages, plain TeX + 5 uuencoded figure

Semiclassical Gravitational Effects in de Sitter Space at Finite Temperature

In the framework of finite temperature conformal scalar field theory on de Sitter space-time the linearized Einstein equations for the renormalized stress tensor are exactly solved. In this theory quantum field fluctuations are concentrated near two spheres of the de Sitter radius, propagating as light wave fronts. Related cosmological aspects are shortly discussed. The analysis, performed for flat expanding universe, shows exponential damping of the back-reaction effects far from these spherical objects. The obtained solutions for the semiclassical Einstein equations in de Sitter background can be straightforwardly extended also to the anti-de Sitter geometry.Comment: pag.14, 1 figure in poscript file available under request, Preprint DSF-8/9

Finite Temperature Effective Potential for Gauge Models in de Sitter Space

The one-loop effective potential for gauge models in static de Sitter space at finite temperatures is computed by means of the $\zeta$--function method. We found a simple relation which links the effective potentials of gauge and scalar fields at all temperatures. In the de Sitter invariant and zero-temperature states the potential for the scalar electrodynamics is explicitly obtained, and its properties in these two vacua are compared. In this theory the two states are shown to behave similarly in the regimes of very large and very small radii a of the background space. For the gauge symmetry broken in the flat limit ($a \to \infty$) there is a critical value of a for which the symmetry is restored in both quantum states. Moreover, the phase transitions which occur at large or at small a are of the first or of the second order, respectively, regardless the vacuum considered. The analytical and numerical analysis of the critical parameters of the above theory is performed. We also established a class of models for which the kind of phase transition occurring depends on the choice of the vacuum.Comment: 23 pages, LaTeX, 5 figure.ep