PARTICLE PHYSICS MODELS, TOPOLOGICAL DEFECTS AND ELECTROWEAK BARYOGENESIS

We demonstrate the viability of electroweak baryogenesis scenarios in which the necessary departure from equilibrium is realized by the evol ution of a network of topological defects. We consider several effecti ve models of TeV physics, each addressing a fundamental particle physi cs problem, and in which the conditions necessary for defect-mediated electroweak baryogenesis are naturally satisfied. In each case we comp are the strength of the model with that expected from scenarios in whi ch baryogenesis proceeds with the propagation of critical bubbles.