| The non-observation of proton decay strongly suggests that baryon number is a global U(1) (phase rotation) symmetry of the low-energy effective Lagrangian of particle physics. In the first half of this thesis, we explore the surprisingly dramatic consequences of this U(1) symmetry for the Affleck-Dine model of baryogenesis. Affleck-Dine baryogenesis is a popular model for the creation of a matter-antimatter asymmetry which relys on setting a complex scalar field into phase rotation. The phase symmetry of the Lagrangian has all important effect oil the evolution of this scalar field.; The baryon number symmetry need not be restricted to a global symmetry. There is growing evidence from string theory, in fact, that global U(1) symmetries must have a gauge origin. In the second half of this thesis, we consider the details of how two different approaches to breaking a, gauged U(1) baryon symmetry would function in a universe with a low Planck scale. A universe with a low Planck scale (Mpl ∼ 103 GeV) has recently been shown to solve the long standing hierarchy problem of particle physics. In the absence of a gauged baryon symmetry the stability of the proton is thought to forbid a low Planck scale, yielding the limit Mpl > 1016 GeV. A gauged baryon symmetry can relax this restriction, but gauging baryon number presents many technical difficulties which must be addressed. |
