Baryogenesis and Leptogenesis

Abstract

The energy budget of the universe contains two components, dark matter and dark energy, about which we have much to learn. One should not forget, however, that the baryonic component presents its own questions for particle cosmology. In the context of cosmology, baryons would have annihilated with their antiparticles in the early universe, leaving a negligible abundance of baryons, in disagreement with that observed. In this general lecture, delivered at the SLAC 2004 Summer Science Institute, I provide an overview of the central issue and the general principles behind candidate models. I also briefly discuss some popular examples of models that are firmly rooted in particle physics.