We perform large-scale real-time simulations of a bubble wall sweeping through an out-of-equilibrium plasma. The scenario we have in mind is the electroweak phase transition, which may be first order in extensions of the Standard Model, and produce such bubbles. The process may be responsible for baryogenesis and can generate a background of primordial cosmological gravitational waves. We study thermodynamic features of the plasma near the advancing wall, the generation of Chern-Simons number/Higgs winding number and consider the potential for CP-violation at the wall generating a baryon asymmetry. A number of technical details necessary for a proper numerical implementation are developed.
The standard picture of electroweak baryogenesis requires slowly expanding bubbles. This can be difficult to achieve if the vacuum expectation value of a gauge singlet scalar field changes appreciably during the electroweak phase transition. It is important to determine the bubble wall velocity in this case, since the predicted baryon asymmetry can depend sensitively on its value. Here, this calculation is discussed and illustrated in the real singlet extension of the Standard Model. The friction on the bubble wall is computed using a kinetic theory approach and including hydrodynamic effects.…
In a weakly first order phase transition the typical scale of a subcritical bubble calculated in our previous papers turned out to be too small. At this scale quantum fluctuations may dominate and our previous classical result may be altered. So we examine the critical size of a subcritical bubble where quantum-to-classical transition occurs through quantum decoherence. We show that this critical size is almost equal to the typical scale which we previously obtained.
First order phase transitions could play a major role in the early universe, providing important phenomenological consequences, such as the production of gravitational waves and the generation of baryon asymmetry. An important aspect that determines the properties of the phase transition is the dynamics of the true-vacuum bubbles, which is controlled by the density perturbations in the hot plasma. We study this aspect presenting, for the first time, the full solution of the linearized Boltzmann equation for the top quark species coupled to the Higgs field during a first-order electroweak phase…
The valley structure associated with quantum meta-stability is examined. It is defined by the new valley equation, which enables consistent evaluation of the imaginary-time path-integral. We study the structure of this new valley equation and solve these equations numerically. The valley is shown to contain the bounce solution, as well as other bubble structures. We find that even when the bubble solution has thick wall, the outer region of the valley is made of large-radius, thin-wall bubble, which interior is occupied by the true-vacuum. Smaller size bubbles, which contribute to decay at hig…
We study configurations of intersecting domain walls in a Wess-Zumino model with three vacua. We introduce a volume-preserving flow and show that its static solutions are configurations of intersecting domain walls that form double bubbles, that is, minimal area surfaces which enclose and separate two prescribed volumes. To illustrate this field theory approach to double bubbles, we use domain walls to reconstruct the phase diagram for double bubbles in the flat square two-torus and also construct all known examples of double bubbles in the flat cubic three-torus.
We discuss the dynamics of expanding bubble walls in the presence of massive dark photons whose mass changes as they cross the wall. For sufficiently thin walls, we show that there exists a transient kinematic regime characterized by a constant reflection probability of longitudinal -- but not transverse -- modes. This effect can have important implications for the dynamics of expanding vacuum bubbles in the early Universe. Most notably, it leads to a new source of pressure on the expanding interface, featuring a non-monotonic dependence on the $γ$-factor of the bubble walls and reaching a pea…
We study the dynamics of bubble wall in five-dimensional Gauss-Bonnet gravity in the thin-wall approximation. The motion of the domain wall is determined by the generalized Israel junction condition. We find a solution where the wall of true vacuum bubble is oscillating, the breathing bubbles. We briefly comment on how this breathing vacuum bubble can affect the analysis of the string theory landscape.
When charged particles collide with a vacuum bubble, they can radiate strong electromagnetic waves due to rapid deceleration. Owing to the energy loss of the particles by this bremsstrahlung radiation, there is a non-negligible damping pressure acting on the bubble wall even when thermal equilibrium is maintained. In the non-relativistic region, this pressure is proportional to the velocity of the wall and could have influenced the bubble dynamics in the early universe.
A model that gives rise to vacuum bubbles is considered where the domain wall field interacts with another real scalar field, resulting in the formation of domain ribbons within the host domain wall. Ribbon-antiribbon annihilations produce elementary bosons whose mass inside the wall is different from the mass in vacuum. Two cases are considered, where the bosons get trapped either within the bubble wall or the bosons get trapped within the vacuum enclosed by the bubble. The bosonic (meta)stabilization effect on the bubble is examined in each case. It is found that when the bosons become trapp…
Kobe University（神户大学）；Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交大凌波书院）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学物理与天文学院）
Cosmological phase transitions proceed via the nucleation of bubbles that subsequently expand and collide. The resulting gravitational wave spectrum depends crucially on the bubble wall velocity. Microscopic calculations of this velocity are challenging even in weakly coupled theories. We use holography to compute the wall velocity from first principles in a strongly coupled, non-Abelian, four-dimensional gauge theory. The wall velocity is determined dynamically in terms of the nucleation temperature. We find an approximately linear relation between the velocity and the ratio $Δ\mathcal{P}/\ma…
We present semi-analytic techniques for finding bubble wall profiles during first order phase transitions with multiple scalar fields. Our method involves reducing the problem to an equation with a single field, finding an analytic solution and perturbing around it. The perturbations can be written in a semi-analytic form. We argue that our technique lacks convergence problems and demonstrate the speed of convergence on an example potential.
We investigate the scattering of fermions off domain walls at the electroweak phase transition in presence of a magnetic field. We consider both the bubble wall and the kink domain wall. We derive and solve the Dirac equation for fermions with momentum perpendicular to the walls, and compute the transmission and reflection coefficients. In the case of kink domain wall, we briefly discuss the zero mode solutions localized on the wall. The possibile role of the magnetic field for the electroweak baryogenesis is also discussed.
Scalar field theory with an asymmetric potential is studied at zero temperature and high-temperature for phi^4 theory with both phi and phi^3 symmetry breaking. The equations of motion are solved numerically to obtain O(4) symmetric and O(3) cylindrical symmetric bounce solutions. These solutions control the rates for tunneling from the false vacuum to the true vacuum by bubble formation. The range of validity of the thin-wall approximation (TWA) is investigated. An analytical solution for the bounce is presented, which reproduces the action in the thin-wall as well as the thick-wall limits.
We derive a general quantum field theoretic formula for the force acting on expanding bubbles of a first order phase transition in the early Universe setting. In the thermodynamic limit the force is proportional to the entropy increase across the bubble of active species that exert a force on the bubble interface. When local thermal equilibrium is attained, we find a strong friction force which grows as the Lorentz factor squared, such that the bubbles quickly reach stationary state and cannot run away. We also study an opposite case when scatterings are negligible across the wall (ballistic l…
For a cosmological first-order electroweak phase transition, requiring no sphaleron washout of baryon number violating processes leads to a lower bound on the strength of the transition. The velocity of the boundary between the phases, the so-called bubble wall, can become ultra-relativistic if the friction due to the plasma of particles is not sufficient to retard the wall's acceleration. This bubble ``runaway'' should not occur if a successful baryon asymmetry generation due to the transition is required. Using Boedeker-Moore criterion for bubble wall runaway, within the context of an extens…
A type of scenario is considered where electrically charged vacuum bubbles, formed from degenerate or nearly degenerate vacuua separated by a thin domain wall, are cosmologically produced due to the breaking of a discrete symmetry, with the bubble charge arising from fermions residing within the domain wall. Stability issues associated with wall tension, fermion gas, and Coulombic effects for such configurations are examined. The stability of a bubble depends upon parameters such as the symmetry breaking scale and the fermion coupling. A dominance of either the Fermi gas or the Coulomb contrib…
Inhomogeneous solutions of the gap equation in the mean field approach to Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model are studied. An approximate Ginzburg-Landau-like gap equation is obtained and the domain wall solution is found. Binding of fermions to the domain wall is demonstrated. Compact domain wall with bound fermions is studied and stabilisation by fermion pressure is demonstrated which opens a possibility for existence of "soap bubble" hadronic states.
We assess the effects of a collision between two vacuum bubbles in the thin-wall limit. After describing the outcome of a generic collision possessing the expected hyperbolic symmetry, we focus on collisions experienced by a bubble containing positive vacuum energy, which could in principle contain our observable universe. We provide criteria governing whether the post-collision domain wall accelerates towards or away from this "observation" bubble, and discuss the implications for observers located at various positions inside of the bubble. Then, we identify the class of solutions which have …
It is widely believed that the standard model is a low energy effective theory which may have higher dimensional non-renormalizable operators. The existence of these new operators can lead to interesting dynamics for the evolution of the universe, including the appearance of new vacuum states. If the universe today exists in a false vacuum, there will be a non-zero probability to tunnel to the true vacuum state of the universe. Should this transition occur elsewhere in the universe, bubbles of true vacuum will nucleate and expand outwards. Bubbles that nucleate in the hot dense plasma of the e…
We revisit the issue of the stability in the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model, by considering the nucleation of bubbles of the conventional branch within the self-accelerating branch. We construct an instanton describing this process in the thin wall approximation. On one side of the bubble wall, the bulk consists of the exterior of the brane while on the other side it is the interior. The solution requires the presence of a 2-brane (the bubble wall) which induces the transition. However, we show that this instanton cannot be realized as the thin wall limit of any smooth solution. Once the bubble…
We study the effect of a bubble wall on the entanglement entropy of a free massive scalar field between two causally disconnected open charts in de Sitter space. We assume there is a delta-functional wall between the open charts. This can be thought of as a model of pair creation of bubble universes in de Sitter space. We first derive the Euclidean vacuum mode functions of the scalar field in the presence of the wall in the coordinates that respect the open charts. We then derive the Bogoliubov transformation between the Euclidean vacuum and the open chart vacua that makes the reduced density …
Scalar field theory with an asymmetric potential is studied at zero temperature and high-temperature for $ϕ^6$ potential. The equations of motion are solved numerically to obtain O(4) spherical symmetric and O(3) cylindrical symmetric bounce solutions. These solutions control the rates for tunneling from the false vacuum to the true vacuum by bubble formation. The range of validity of the thin-wall approximation (TWA) is investigated. An analytical solution for the bounce is presented, which reproduces the action in the thin-wall as well as the thick-wall limits.
We develop a theory of static BPS domain walls in stringy landscape and present a large family of BPS walls interpolating between different supersymmetric vacua. Examples include KKLT models, STU models, type IIB multiple flux vacua, and models with several Minkowski and AdS vacua. After the uplifting, some of the vacua become dS, whereas some others remain AdS. The near-BPS walls separating these vacua may be seen as bubble walls in the theory of vacuum decay. As an outcome of our investigation of the BPS walls, we found that the decay rate of dS vacua to a collapsing space with a negative va…
The interface between a big bubble of true AdS$_D$ vacuum expanding inside a false AdS$_D$ vacuum is a model of an inflating $D-1$ dimensional universe. It looks like an interesting setup to study fundamentals of inflation. A recent computation shows that the prediction of this model for the wavefunction of the universe disagrees with that of Hartle and Hawking. We show that this discrepancy is because the effective $D-1$ dimensional description of the model is spin-$0$ (Nordström) gravity rather than spin-2 (Einstein) gravity.
We study various bubble solutions in string/M theories obtained by double Wick rotations of (non-)extremal brane configurations. Typically, the geometry interpolates de Sitter space-time times non-compact extra-dimensional space in the near-bubble wall region and the asymptotic flat Minkowski space-time. These bubble solutions provide nice background geometries reconciling string/M theories with de Sitter space-time. For the application of these solutions to cosmology, we consider multi-bubble solutions and find landscapes of varying cosmological constant. Double Wick rotation in string/M theo…
We study domain-walls and bubble nucleation in a non-relativistic vector field theory with different longitudinal and transverse speeds of sound. We describe analytical and numerical methods to calculate the orientation dependent domain-wall tension, $σ(θ)$. We then use this tension to calculate the critical bubble shape. The longitudinally oriented domain-wall tends to be the heaviest, and sometime suffers an instability. It can spontaneously break into zigzag segments. In this case, the critical bubble develops kinks, and its energy, and therefore the tunneling rate, scales with the sound sp…
Negative mass makes perfect physical sense as long as the dominant energy condition is satisfied by the corresponding energy-momentum tensor. Heretofore, only {\it configurations} of negative mass had been found \cite{Belletete:2013nqa,Mbarek:2014ppa}, the analysis did not address stability or dynamics. In this paper, we analyze both of these criteria. We demonstrate the existence of {\it stable}, static, negative mass bubbles in an asymptotically de Sitter space-time. The bubbles are solutions of the Einstein equations and correspond to an interior region of space-time containing a specific m…
