The MSSM electroweak phase transition on the lattice

Abstract

We study the MSSM finite temperature electroweak phase transition with lattice Monte Carlo simulations, for a large Higgs mass ( m H ≈ 95 GeV) and light stop masses ( m t ̃ R ∼ 150–160 GeV ). We employ a 3d effective field theory approach, where the degrees of freedom appearing in the action are the SU(2) and SU(3) gauge fields, the weakly interacting Higgs doublet, and the strongly interacting stop triplet. We determine the phase diagram, the critical temperatures, the scalar field expectation values, the latent heat, the interface tension and the correlation lengths at the phase transition points. Extrapolating the results to the infinite volume and continuum limits, we find that the transition is stronger than indicated by 2-loop perturbation theory, guaranteeing that the MSSM phase transition is strong enough for baryogenesis in this regime. We also study the possibility of a two-stage phase transition, in which the stop field gets an expectation value in an intermediate phase. We find that a two-stage transition exists non0perturbatively, as well, but for somewhat smaller stop masses than in perturbation theory. Finally, the latter stage of the two-stage transition is found to be extremely strong, and thus it might not be allowed in the cosmological environment.