Real-Time History of the Cosmological Electroweak Phase Transition

TL;DR

The macroscopic real-time history of the cosmological electroweak phase transition is studied, finding that collisions with compression waves may make the bubble walls oscillate, and that reheating to T-c generically takes place.

Abstract

We study numerically the real-time history of the cosmological electroweak phase transition, as it may take place in the Standard Model or in MSSM for m_H < m_W according to recent lattice results. We follow the nucleated bubbles from the initial stages of acceleration and rapid growth, through collisions with compression waves resulting in slowing down and reheating to T_c, until the final stages of slow growth and evaporation. We find that collisions with compression waves may make the bubble walls oscillate in the radial direction, and that reheating to T_c takes generically place.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: The wall velocity as a function of $\eta$. In case A the wall is a detonation front for $\eta \lesssim 0.0077 T_c$. Otherwise the wall is a deflagration front. The black diamonds correspond to the 13 runs discussed in the text.
• Figure 2: The bubble radius as a function of time. For clarity the cases A2 and B2 are omitted.
• Figure 3: The bubble history showing the stages of fast and slow growth. The upper line is case B3 and the lower one C1.