Goldstone bosons across thermal phase transitions

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Lowdon, Peter, Philipsen, Owe
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Lowdon, Peter
Philipsen, Owe
author_facet Lowdon, Peter
Philipsen, Owe
contents Temperature has a significant effect on the properties of quantum field theories (QFTs) with a spontaneously broken symmetry, in particular on the massless Goldstone bosons that exist in the vacuum state. It has recently been shown using lattice calculations for a $\mathrm{U}(1)$ complex scalar field theory that the Goldstone mode persists even when the symmetry is restored above the critical temperature $T_{c}$, and has the properties of a screened excitation, a so-called thermoparticle. In this work, we continue the investigation of this theory by determining explicitly how the Goldstone mode evolves as the temperature is increased both below and above $T_{c}$. We find that the two phases of the theory are entirely characterised by the thermal dissipative effects experienced by the Goldstone mode, with the broken and symmetry-restored phases associated with weak and strong damping, respectively. These findings are consistent with the non-perturbative constraints imposed by spontaneous symmetry breaking, and provide a new way in which to characterise thermal phase transitions in QFTs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_14348
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Goldstone bosons across thermal phase transitions
Lowdon, Peter
Philipsen, Owe
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Lattice
High Energy Physics - Theory
Nuclear Theory
Temperature has a significant effect on the properties of quantum field theories (QFTs) with a spontaneously broken symmetry, in particular on the massless Goldstone bosons that exist in the vacuum state. It has recently been shown using lattice calculations for a $\mathrm{U}(1)$ complex scalar field theory that the Goldstone mode persists even when the symmetry is restored above the critical temperature $T_{c}$, and has the properties of a screened excitation, a so-called thermoparticle. In this work, we continue the investigation of this theory by determining explicitly how the Goldstone mode evolves as the temperature is increased both below and above $T_{c}$. We find that the two phases of the theory are entirely characterised by the thermal dissipative effects experienced by the Goldstone mode, with the broken and symmetry-restored phases associated with weak and strong damping, respectively. These findings are consistent with the non-perturbative constraints imposed by spontaneous symmetry breaking, and provide a new way in which to characterise thermal phase transitions in QFTs.
title Goldstone bosons across thermal phase transitions
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
High Energy Physics - Lattice
High Energy Physics - Theory
Nuclear Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14348