Gravitational Waves from First-Order Phase Transitions Assisted by Temperature-Enhanced Scatterings
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866911445659156480 |
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| author | Chaudhuri, Arnab |
| author_facet | Chaudhuri, Arnab |
| contents | Scatterings whose cross sections increase as the cosmic temperature decreases, known as temperature - enhanced scatterings, can have a significant impact on the thermal effective potential of scalar fields responsible for driving cosmological first-order phase transitions. We show that such effects naturally manifest as finite-temperature self-energy corrections to the scalar mass term, leading to an additional contribution of the form \(c\,T^{p}ϕ^{2}\) in the effective potential. In this work, we systematically investigate how these loop-induced, temperature-dependent corrections affect key phase transition parameters, including the nucleation temperature, latent heat release, and inverse duration parameter. These modifications influence both the strength and duration of the phase transition, which in turn determine the properties of the resulting stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) background. Employing semi-analytic computational methods, we evaluate the GW spectra generated under these conditions and compare our predictions with the projected sensitivities of forthcoming detectors such as LISA, DECIGO, and BBO. Our analysis demonstrates that finite-temperature scattering effects of this kind can substantially strengthen first-order transitions and produce GW signals that lie within the reach of future observational facilities. The results establish a concrete thermal-field-theoretic origin for temperature-dependent modifications of the scalar potential and emphasize their importance in shaping early-Universe cosmological signatures. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_13135 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Gravitational Waves from First-Order Phase Transitions Assisted by Temperature-Enhanced Scatterings Chaudhuri, Arnab Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Scatterings whose cross sections increase as the cosmic temperature decreases, known as temperature - enhanced scatterings, can have a significant impact on the thermal effective potential of scalar fields responsible for driving cosmological first-order phase transitions. We show that such effects naturally manifest as finite-temperature self-energy corrections to the scalar mass term, leading to an additional contribution of the form \(c\,T^{p}ϕ^{2}\) in the effective potential. In this work, we systematically investigate how these loop-induced, temperature-dependent corrections affect key phase transition parameters, including the nucleation temperature, latent heat release, and inverse duration parameter. These modifications influence both the strength and duration of the phase transition, which in turn determine the properties of the resulting stochastic gravitational-wave (GW) background. Employing semi-analytic computational methods, we evaluate the GW spectra generated under these conditions and compare our predictions with the projected sensitivities of forthcoming detectors such as LISA, DECIGO, and BBO. Our analysis demonstrates that finite-temperature scattering effects of this kind can substantially strengthen first-order transitions and produce GW signals that lie within the reach of future observational facilities. The results establish a concrete thermal-field-theoretic origin for temperature-dependent modifications of the scalar potential and emphasize their importance in shaping early-Universe cosmological signatures. |
| title | Gravitational Waves from First-Order Phase Transitions Assisted by Temperature-Enhanced Scatterings |
| topic | Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Phenomenology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.13135 |