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arXiv · 2010.00017

Universal gravitational-wave signatures from heavy new physics in the electroweak sector

Abstract

We calculate the gravitational-wave spectra produced by the electroweak phase transition with TeV-scale Beyond-Standard-Model physics in the early universe. Our study captures the effect of quantum and thermal fluctuations within a non-perturbative framework. We discover a universal relation between the mean bubble separation and the strength parameter of the phase transition, which holds for a wide range of new-physics contributions. The ramifications of this result are three-fold: First, they constrain the gravitational-wave spectra resulting from heavy (TeV-scale) new physics. Second, they contribute to distinguishing heavy from light new physics directly from the gravitational-wave signature. Third, they suggest that a concerted effort of gravitational-wave observations together with collider experiments could be required to distinguish between different models of heavy new physics.

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Astrid Eichhorn, Johannes Lumma, Jan M. Pawlowski, Manuel Reichert, Masatoshi Yamada. 2020-09-30. Universal gravitational-wave signatures from heavy new physics in the electroweak sector. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516%2F2021%2F05%2F006

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