Baryogenesis -- 40 Years Later

Abstract

The classical picture of GUT baryogenesis has been strongly modified by theoretical progress concerning two nonperturbative features of the standard model: the phase diagram of the electroweak theory, and baryon and lepton number changing sphaleron processes in the high-temperature symmetric phase of the standard model. We briefly review three viable models, electroweak baryogenesis, the Affleck-Dine mechanism and leptogenesis and discuss the prospects to falsify them. All models are closely tied to the nature of dark matter, especially in supersymmetric theories. In the near future results from LHC and gamma-ray astronomy will shed new light on the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe.