Electroweak Phase Transition with a Double Well Done Doubly Well

Abstract

We revisit the electroweak phase transition in the scalar singlet extension of the standard model with a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. In significant parts of the parameter space the phase transition occurs in two steps - including canonical benchmarks used in experimental projections for gravitational waves. Domain walls produced in the first step of the transition seed the final step to the electroweak vacuum, an effect which is typically neglected but leads to an exponentially enhanced tunnelling rate. We improve previous results obtained for the seeded transition, which made use of the thin-wall or high temperature approximations, by using the mountain pass algorithm that was recently proposed as a useful tool for seeded processes. We then determine the predictions of the seeded transition for the latent heat, bubble size and characteristic time scale of the transition. Differences compared to homogeneous transitions are most pronounced when there are relatively few domain walls per hubble patch, potentially leading to an enhanced gravitational wave signal. We also provide a derivation of the percolation criteria for a generic seeded transition, which applies to the domain wall seeds we consider as well as to strings and monopoles.