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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.06306 |
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| _version_ | 1866910110031282176 |
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| author | Ismail, Ameen Wang, Lian-Tao |
| author_facet | Ismail, Ameen Wang, Lian-Tao |
| contents | Theories with warped extra dimensions, like the Randall-Sundrum (RS) model, exhibit a holographic phase transition from a hot, deconfined black brane phase to a cool, confined phase. The standard picture of a first-order, strongly supercooled phase transition is expected to change in variations where the extra dimension is smoothly cut off by a soft-wall curvature singularity, as opposed to a hard brane. To understand this situation, we consider a simple ansatz for the warped geometry which allows us to obtain analytical results while maintaining the essential behavior of a soft wall. Unlike RS with the usual Goldberger-Wise stabilization, the hot, black brane phase only exists above a minimum temperature, which is not much smaller than the critical temperature. We explore the dynamics of the phase transition across the range of possibilities for the asymptotic geometry of a soft wall. This involves calculating an effective 4D action for the location of the black brane horizon. Using the effective action, we show that the phase transition completes rapidly ($β/H$ of $10^{3\text{-}4}$ is typical) and with only slight supercooling. We compute the resulting gravitational wave signal for a TeV-scale transition, finding that it is accessible to future space-based interferometers. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_06306 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Uncool soft-wall transitions and gravitational waves Ismail, Ameen Wang, Lian-Tao High Energy Physics - Phenomenology High Energy Physics - Theory Theories with warped extra dimensions, like the Randall-Sundrum (RS) model, exhibit a holographic phase transition from a hot, deconfined black brane phase to a cool, confined phase. The standard picture of a first-order, strongly supercooled phase transition is expected to change in variations where the extra dimension is smoothly cut off by a soft-wall curvature singularity, as opposed to a hard brane. To understand this situation, we consider a simple ansatz for the warped geometry which allows us to obtain analytical results while maintaining the essential behavior of a soft wall. Unlike RS with the usual Goldberger-Wise stabilization, the hot, black brane phase only exists above a minimum temperature, which is not much smaller than the critical temperature. We explore the dynamics of the phase transition across the range of possibilities for the asymptotic geometry of a soft wall. This involves calculating an effective 4D action for the location of the black brane horizon. Using the effective action, we show that the phase transition completes rapidly ($β/H$ of $10^{3\text{-}4}$ is typical) and with only slight supercooling. We compute the resulting gravitational wave signal for a TeV-scale transition, finding that it is accessible to future space-based interferometers. |
| title | Uncool soft-wall transitions and gravitational waves |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.06306 |