Physics – Nuclear Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 1991
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991nuphb.364..411g&link_type=abstract
Nuclear Physics B, Part. Phys., Vol. 364, No. 2, p. 411 - 450
Physics
Nuclear Physics
69
Scientific paper
The authors study the dynamics of cosmological phase transitions initiated from a state of thermal equilibrium. If the effective potential satisfies certain general conditions, a homogeneous phase of false vacuum will form as the universe expands, and the transition will proceed by well-known bubble nucleation processes. If such conditions do not hold, the universe may instead be filled with a two-phase emulsion. The evolution of the transition will be determined by the free energy difference between the two phases and by the expansion rate of the universe. Thermal fluctuations between the phases will determine the final distribution of regions of the universe in each phase as they freeze out. The authors develop a method to study the dynamics of such fluctuations, which they call sub-critical bubbles, and apply it to several situations of interest, including the symmetric and asymmetric double-well, and the Coleman-Weinberg scalar potentials. They show that in certain cases it is possible to avoid supercooling, with the transition being completed by sub-critical fluctuations. Possible applications to the electroweak phase transition are briefly discussed.
Gleiser Marcelo
Kolb Edward W.
Watkins Richard
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