Chiral fermions and torsion in the early Universe

Abstract

Torsion arising from fermionic matter in the Einstein-Cartan formulation of general relativity is considered in the context of Robertson-Walker geometries and the early Universe. An ambiguity in the way torsion arising from hot fermionic matter in chiral models should be implemented is highlighted and discussed. In one interpretation, chemical potentials in chiral models can contribute to the Friedmann equation and give a negative contribution to the energy density.