Speaker
Description
In the minimal Standard Model (SM) the Electroweak Phase Transition is a crossover, but in many beyond the SM theories the possibility for a first order transition has sustained interest. Strong first order phase transitions could produce gravitational waves that might be detectable by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Improving the accuracy of predictions of the nucleation rate for strong phase transitions is crucial - if we are to make reliable estimates of the gravitational wave power spectrum from first order phase transitions. There are also proposals for analogue experiments that will test bubble nucleation in the lab; good understanding of the underlying field theory nucleation process is key to interpreting the results of these experiments.
Previously, these nucleation rates have generally been calculated perturbatively, but those calculations depend on the semiclassical picture of the bubble and its fluctuations, and different orders of perturbative calculation yield very different results. In this poster, I will give you an update on results of our lattice calculations of the nucleation rate. We focused on a real scalar theory with a tree-level potential barrier and performed nonperturbative simulations to determine the nucleation rate. To overcome challenges with applying the lattice method of computing the nucleation rate to our model, we use a shifted order parameter. Our results show that higher orders in perturbation theory are necessary, and we expect our findings to allow calibration of the systematic uncertainty in perturbative results.
| Would you be interested in presenting a poster? (this will not impact the decision on your talk) | yes |
|---|
