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arXiv · 2606.20392

Phase Transitions and Gravitational Wave Production at the End of Thermal Inflation

Hyukjung Kim·İlayda Kuzu·Kerem Özsoy·Zeynep Kahraman·Wan-Il Park·Heeseung Zoe
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Abstract

We investigate the first-order phase transition that terminates thermal inflation and evaluate the associated stochastic gravitational-wave signals. The transition is first characterized through semi-analytic calculations of the bounce action, which are compared with numerical results obtained using CosmoTransitions. We then study its real-time evolution in a three-dimensional Langevin lattice simulation that incorporates Hubble expansion and the corresponding temperature evolution throughout the transition. The lattice dynamics are consistent with the bounce-action estimates: the transition proceeds through localized bubble nucleation and subsequent bubble growth, rather than through a phase-mixing instability. Using the resulting transition parameters, we estimate the gravitational-wave spectra generated by bubble collisions and acoustic motions in the plasma. The predicted stochastic background lies within the projected sensitivity ranges of future gravitational-wave observatories, including BBO and DECIGO.

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Hyukjung Kim, İlayda Kuzu, Kerem Özsoy, Zeynep Kahraman, Wan-Il Park, Heeseung Zoe. 2026-06-18. Phase Transitions and Gravitational Wave Production at the End of Thermal Inflation. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.20392

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