MONOPOLE ANNIHILATION AND BARYOGENESIS AT THE ELECTROWEAK SCALE

If the standard model is extended to include two Higgs doublets and a singlet, there is a region of parameter space for which electromagnetism is broken in a narrow temperature range below the electroweak transition temperature. In this range, the Universe superconducts, and monopoles will rapidly annihilate. It is shown that as the Universe passes through this temperature range, the abundance of monopoles will be depleted to acceptable levels, and, in addition, the process of annihilation could generate the observed baryon asymmetry.