Leptogenesis assisted by scalar decays

Abstract: We present a pragmatic approach to lower down the mass scale of right-handed neutrinos in leptogenesis by introducing a scalar decaying to right-handed neutrinos. The key point of our proposal is that the out-of-equilibrium decays of the scalar provide an additional source for right-handed neutrinos and hence the lepton asymmetry. This mechanism works well at low temperatures when the washout of the generated lepton asymmetry is suppressed. Thus, the lepton asymmetry can be effectively produced despite the washout effect is strong or not. Through a comprehensive analysis, we demonstrate that such a scalar-assisted leptogenesis can typically decrease the viable right-handed neutrino mass scale by one to three orders of magnitude.