Self-consistent treatment of bubble nucleation at the electroweak phase transition

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is the foundation of electroweak unification and serves as an integral part of the model building beyond the standard model of particle physics and it also finds interesting applications in the late Universe. We review development related to obtaining the late cosmic acceleration from spontaneous symmetry breaking in the Universe at large scales. This phenomenon is best understood through Ginzburg–Landau theory of phase transitions which we briefly describe. Hereafter, we present elements of spontaneous symmetry breaking in relativistic field theory. We then discuss the “symmetron” scenario-based upon symmetry breaking in the late Universe which is realized by using a specific form of conformal coupling. However, the model is faced with “NO GO” for late-time acceleration due to local gravity constraints. We argue that the problem can be circumvented by using the massless [Formula: see text] theory coupled to massive neutrino matter. As for the early Universe, spontaneous symmetry breaking finds its interesting applications in the study of electroweak phase transition. To this effect, we first discuss in detail the Ginzburg–Landau theory of first-order phase transitions and then apply it to electroweak phase transition including technical discussions on bubble nucleation and sphaleron transitions. We provide a pedagogical exposition of dynamics of electroweak phase transition and emphasize the need to go beyond the standard model of particle physics for addressing the baryogenesis problem. Review ends with a brief discussion on Affleck–Dine mechanism and spontaneous baryogenesis. Appendixes include technical details on essential ingredients of baryogenesis, sphaleron solution, one-loop finite temperature effective potential and dynamics of bubble nucleation.

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An Improved Equation of State for Hydrogen

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100018005 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 137 ◽

pp. 307-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D. Saumon ◽

G. Chabrier

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Equation Of State ◽

Order Phase Transition ◽

Equations Of State ◽

First Order ◽

First Order Phase Transition ◽

Self Consistent ◽

Plasma Phase ◽

Consistent Treatment ◽

First Order Phase

An improved theory of fluid hydrogen at high density, based on a detailed treatment of inter-particle correlations and a self-consistent treatment of pressure ionization, has become available recently (Chabrier 1990, Saumon and Chabrier 1991, 1992). We present a preliminary comparison between this new EOS (hereatfer SC) and equations of state frequently used in astrophysical contexts, namely: Fontaine, Graboske and Van Horn 1977 (FGVH), Däppen et al. 1988 (MHD) and Magni and Mazzitelli 1979 (MM).The SC theory predicts a first-order phase transition in the region of pressure-ionization (the so-called Plasma Phase Transition, or PPT), between an essentially neutral mixture of atoms and molecules (xe– < 10−2), and a partially ionized plasma (xe– ≈ 50 %), with a critical point located at Pc = 0.614 Mbar, Tc = 15300K and pc = 0.35 g/cm3.

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Self-consistent treatment of a phase transition in a system with a vector order parameter

Journal of Statistical Physics ◽

10.1007/bf01011713 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marco Zannetti

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Order Parameter ◽

Self Consistent ◽

Consistent Treatment

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Dynamics of Electroweak Phase Transition in the 3-3-1-1 Model

Communications in Physics ◽

10.15625/0868-3166/30/1/14467 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 61

Author(s):

Binh Dinh Thanh ◽

Phong Vo Quoc ◽

Hoang Ngoc Long

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Lower Bound ◽

Symmetry Breaking ◽

Bubble Nucleation ◽

Nucleation Temperature ◽

Electroweak Phase Transition ◽

Stringent Condition ◽

First Order ◽

Scalar Mass ◽

Second Period

The bubble nucleation in the framework of 3-3-1-1 model is studied. Previous studies show that first order electroweak phase transition occurs in two periods. In this paper we evaluate the bubble nucleation temperature throughout the parameter space. Using the stringent condition for bubble nucleation formation we find that in the first period, symmetry breaking from $SU(3)\rightarrow SU(2)$, the bubble is formed at the nucleation temperature $T=150$ GeV and the lower bound of the scalar mass is 600 GeV. In the second period, symmetry breaking from $(SU(2)\rightarrow U(1)$, only subcritical bubbles are formed. This constraint eliminates the electroweak baryon genesis in the second period of the model.

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Electroweak phase transition with spontaneous Z2-breaking

Journal of High Energy Physics ◽

10.1007/jhep08(2020)107 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 (8) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marcela Carena ◽

Zhen Liu ◽

Yikun Wang

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Gravitational Wave ◽

Bubble Nucleation ◽

Electroweak Phase Transition ◽

First Order ◽

Additional Information ◽

First Order Phase Transition ◽

Light Scalar ◽

Future Collider ◽

The Rich

Abstract This work investigates a simple, representative extension of the Standard Model with a real scalar singlet and spontaneous Z2 breaking, which allows for a strongly first-order phase transition, as required by electroweak baryogenesis. We perform analytical and numerical calculations that systematically include one-loop thermal effects, Coleman-Weinberg corrections, and daisy resummation, as well as evaluation of bubble nucleation. We study the rich thermal history and identify the conditions for a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition with nearly degenerate extrema at zero temperature. This requires a light scalar with mass below 50 GeV. Exotic Higgs decays, as well as Higgs coupling precision measurements at the LHC and future collider facilities, will test this model. Additional information may be obtained from future collider constraints on the Higgs self-coupling. Gravitational-wave signals are typically too low to be probed by future gravitational wave experiments.

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Bubble nucleation and growth at a baryon-number-producing electroweak phase transition

Physical Review D ◽

10.1103/physrevd.46.2668 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 46 (6) ◽

pp. 2668-2688 ◽

Cited By ~ 94

Author(s):

Bao Hua Liu ◽

Larry McLerran ◽

Neil Turok

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Baryon Number ◽

Nucleation And Growth ◽

Bubble Nucleation ◽

Electroweak Phase Transition

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Dark Matter production from relativistic bubble walls

Journal of High Energy Physics ◽

10.1007/jhep03(2021)288 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Aleksandr Azatov ◽

Miguel Vanvlasselaer ◽

Wen Yin

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Dark Matter ◽

Electroweak Phase Transition ◽

First Order ◽

Matter Production ◽

First Order Phase Transition ◽

Relic Abundance ◽

Higgs Portal ◽

First Order Phase ◽

Gravitational Background

Abstract In this paper we present a novel mechanism for producing the observed Dark Matter (DM) relic abundance during the First Order Phase Transition (FOPT) in the early universe. We show that the bubble expansion with ultra-relativistic velocities can lead to the abundance of DM particles with masses much larger than the scale of the transition. We study this non-thermal production mechanism in the context of a generic phase transition and the electroweak phase transition. The application of the mechanism to the Higgs portal DM as well as the signal in the Stochastic Gravitational Background are discussed.

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A critical look at the electroweak phase transition

Journal of High Energy Physics ◽

10.1007/jhep12(2020)136 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 (12) ◽

Author(s):

Andreas Ekstedt ◽

Johan Löfgren

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Generic Model ◽

Electroweak Symmetry ◽

Electroweak Phase Transition ◽

Gauge Dependence ◽

Perturbative Methods ◽

The Standard Model ◽

Gauge Fixing ◽

Infrared Divergences ◽

General Gauge

Abstract The electroweak phase transition broke the electroweak symmetry. Perturbative methods used to calculate observables related to this phase transition suffer from severe problems such as gauge dependence, infrared divergences, and a breakdown of perturbation theory. In this paper we develop robust perturbative tools for dealing with phase transitions. We argue that gauge and infrared problems are absent in a consistent power-counting. We calculate the finite temperature effective potential to two loops for general gauge-fixing parameters in a generic model. We demonstrate gauge invariance, and perform numerical calculations for the Standard Model in Fermi gauge.

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Nucleation is more than critical: A case study of the electroweak phase transition in the NMSSM

Journal of High Energy Physics ◽

10.1007/jhep03(2021)055 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Sebastian Baum ◽

Marcela Carena ◽

Nausheen R. Shah ◽

Carlos E. M. Wagner ◽

Yikun Wang

Keyword(s):

Phase Transition ◽

Parameter Space ◽

Local Minima ◽

Critical Temperatures ◽

Electroweak Phase Transition ◽

First Order ◽

Vacuum Structure ◽

The Universe ◽

Scalar Sector

Abstract Electroweak baryogenesis is an attractive mechanism to generate the baryon asymmetry of the Universe via a strong first order electroweak phase transition. We compare the phase transition patterns suggested by the vacuum structure at the critical temperatures, at which local minima are degenerate, with those obtained from computing the probability for nucleation via tunneling through the barrier separating local minima. Heuristically, nucleation becomes difficult if the barrier between the local minima is too high, or if the distance (in field space) between the minima is too large. As an example of a model exhibiting such behavior, we study the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, whose scalar sector contains two SU(2) doublets and one gauge singlet. We find that the calculation of the nucleation probabilities prefers different regions of parameter space for a strong first order electroweak phase transition than the calculation based solely on the critical temperatures. Our results demonstrate that analyzing only the vacuum structure via the critical temperatures can provide a misleading picture of the phase transition patterns, and, in turn, of the parameter space suitable for electroweak baryogenesis.

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