Abstract
We present the first end-to-end nonperturbative analysis of the gravitational wave power spectrum from a thermal first-order electroweak phase transition (EWPT), using the framework of dimensionally reduced effective field theory and pre-existing nonperturbative simulation results. We are able to show that a first-order EWPT in any beyond the Standard Model (BSM) scenario that can be described by a Standard Model-like effective theory at long distances will produce gravitational wave signatures too weak to be observed at existing and planned detectors. This implies that colliders are likely to provide the best chance of exploring the phase structure of such theories, while transitions strong enough to be detected at gravitational wave experiments require either previously neglected higher-dimension operators or light BSM fields to be included in the dimensionally reduced effective theory and therefore necessitate dedicated nonperturbative studies. As a concrete application, we analyze the real singlet-extended Standard Model and identify regions of parameter space with single-step first-order transitions, comparing our findings to those obtained using a fully perturbative method. We discuss the prospects for exploring the electroweak phase diagram in this model at collider and gravitational wave experiments in light of our nonperturbative results.
Highlights
The nature of electroweak symmetry breaking in the early Universe has important implications for cosmology and particle physics
We are able to show that a first-order electroweak phase transition (EWPT) in any beyond the Standard Model (BSM) scenario that can be described by a Standard Model-like effective theory at long distances will produce gravitational wave signatures too weak to be observed at existing and planned detectors
We find that a first-order EWPT in any BSM theory that can be described by the minimal SM-like 3-d effective field theory (EFT) upon integrating out the additional fields will lead to signatures that are undetectable at any planned
Summary
The nature of electroweak symmetry breaking in the early Universe has important implications for cosmology and particle physics. Collider experiments are likely to provide the most sensitive probe of the phase diagram in such scenarios This means that future lattice studies incorporating the effects of higher dimension operators or light BSM fields will be required in order to make theoretically sound predictions for gravitational wave experiments. While a future nonperturbative study of this model will be required to make firm predictions for gravitational wave experiments, our analysis of the phase diagram provides robust targets for collider searches, which will have a realistic opportunity to probe the first-order regions accessible by existing lattice results.
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