Thermodynamics of Non-Topological Solitons

Abstract

In theories with low energy supersymmetry breaking, the effective potential for squarks and sleptons has generically nearly flat directions, V(phi) ~ M^4 (log(phi/M))^n. This guarantees the existence of stable non-topological solitons, Q-balls, that carry large baryon number, B >> (M/m_p)^4, where m_p is the proton mass. We study the behaviour of these objects in a high temperature plasma. We show that in an infinitely extended system with a finite density of the baryon charge, the equilibrium state is not homogeneous and contains Q-balls at any temperature. In a system with a finite volume, Q-balls evaporate at a volume dependent temperature. In the cosmological context, we formulate the conditions under which Q-balls, produced in the Early Universe, survive till the present time. Finally, we estimate the baryon to cold dark matter ratio in a cosmological scenario in which Q-balls are responsible for both the net baryon number of the Universe and its dark matter. We find out naturally the correct orders of magnitude for M ~ 1...10 TeV: η~ 10^{-10} (M/TeV)^{-2} (B/10^{26})^{-1/2}.