Electroweak Phase Transition with a Double Well Done Doubly Well

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Agrawal, Prateek, Blasi, Simone, Mariotti, Alberto, Nee, Michael
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Agrawal, Prateek
Blasi, Simone
Mariotti, Alberto
Nee, Michael
author_facet Agrawal, Prateek
Blasi, Simone
Mariotti, Alberto
Nee, Michael
contents We revisit the electroweak phase transition in the scalar singlet extension of the standard model with a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. In significant parts of the parameter space the phase transition occurs in two steps - including canonical benchmarks used in experimental projections for gravitational waves. Domain walls produced in the first step of the transition seed the final step to the electroweak vacuum, an effect which is typically neglected but leads to an exponentially enhanced tunnelling rate. We improve previous results obtained for the seeded transition, which made use of the thin-wall or high temperature approximations, by using the mountain pass algorithm that was recently proposed as a useful tool for seeded processes. We then determine the predictions of the seeded transition for the latent heat, bubble size and characteristic time scale of the transition. Differences compared to homogeneous transitions are most pronounced when there are relatively few domain walls per hubble patch, potentially leading to an enhanced gravitational wave signal. We also provide a derivation of the percolation criteria for a generic seeded transition, which applies to the domain wall seeds we consider as well as to strings and monopoles.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_06749
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Electroweak Phase Transition with a Double Well Done Doubly Well
Agrawal, Prateek
Blasi, Simone
Mariotti, Alberto
Nee, Michael
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
We revisit the electroweak phase transition in the scalar singlet extension of the standard model with a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. In significant parts of the parameter space the phase transition occurs in two steps - including canonical benchmarks used in experimental projections for gravitational waves. Domain walls produced in the first step of the transition seed the final step to the electroweak vacuum, an effect which is typically neglected but leads to an exponentially enhanced tunnelling rate. We improve previous results obtained for the seeded transition, which made use of the thin-wall or high temperature approximations, by using the mountain pass algorithm that was recently proposed as a useful tool for seeded processes. We then determine the predictions of the seeded transition for the latent heat, bubble size and characteristic time scale of the transition. Differences compared to homogeneous transitions are most pronounced when there are relatively few domain walls per hubble patch, potentially leading to an enhanced gravitational wave signal. We also provide a derivation of the percolation criteria for a generic seeded transition, which applies to the domain wall seeds we consider as well as to strings and monopoles.
title Electroweak Phase Transition with a Double Well Done Doubly Well
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.06749