Supersymmetric SO(10)-inspired leptogenesis and a new N-2-dominated scenario

We study the supersymmetric extension of SO(10)-inspired thermal leptogenesis showing the constraints on neutrino parameters and on the reheat temperature T-RH that derive from the condition of successful leptogenesis from next-to-lightest right handed (RH) neutrinos (N-2) decays and the more stringent ones when independence of the initial conditions (strong thermal leptogenesis) is superimposed. In the latter case, the increase of the lightest right-handed neutrino (N-1) decay parameters helps the wash-out of a pre-existing asymmetry and constraints relax compared to the non-supersymmetric case. We find significant changes especially in the case of large tan beta values (greater than or similar to 15). In particular, for normal ordering, the atmospheric mixing angle can now be also maximal. The lightest left-handed neutrino mass is still constrained within the range 10 less than or similar to m(1)/meV less than or similar to 30 (corresponding to 75 less than or similar to Sigma(i) m(i)/meV less than or similar to 120). Inverted ordering is still disfavoured, but an allowed region satisfying strong thermal leptogenesis opens up at large tan beta values. We also study in detail the lower bound on T-RH finding T-RH greater than or similar to 1 x 10(10) GeV independently of the initial N-2 abundance. Finally, we propose a new N-2-dominated scenario where the N-1 mass is lower than the sphaleron freeze-out temperature. In this case there is no N-1 wash-out and we find T-RH > 1 x 10(9) GeV. These results indicate that SO(10)-inspired thermal leptogenesis can be made compatible with the upper bound from the gravitino problem, an important result in light of the role often played by supersymmetry in the quest of a realistic model of fermion masses.