Electroweak baryogenesis by axionlike dark matter

Abstract

We show that an axionlike particle (ALP) naturally implements spontaneous electroweak baryogenesis through a cosmic evolution strongly tied to the electroweak phase transition (EWPT) if it feebly couples to the Higgs field while giving a small contribution to the Higgs boson mass. The observed baryon asymmetry can be generated successfully if the ALP couples strongly enough to the electroweak anomaly. Also interesting is that the ALP contributes to dark matter, and its coupling to a hidden gauge sector makes the relic abundance insensitive to the cosmic history before the EWPT. The ALP explains both the baryon asymmetry and dark matter in a wide range of the couplings owing to the friction induced by the hidden gauge sector. To be compatible with cosmological and astrophysical observations, the ALP should have a mass in the range between about 0.01 and 30 eV, and is further required to be photophobic if its coupling to the electroweak anomaly is strong, constraining the field content and charge assignment of the UV completion.