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Large nucleation distances from impurities in the cosmological quark-hadron transition

Michael B. Christiansen·Jes Madsen
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Abstract

We calculate the mean nucleation distance, $d_{nuc}$, in a first order cosmological quark-hadron phase transition. For homogeneous nucleation we find that self-consistent inclusion of curvature energy reduces $d_{nuc}$ to $\lesssim 2$cm. However, impurities can lead to heterogeneous nucleation with $d_{nuc}$ of several meters, a value high enough to change the outcome of Big Bang nucleosynthesis.

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Michael B. Christiansen, Jes Madsen. 1996-02-15. Large nucleation distances from impurities in the cosmological quark-hadron transition. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.53.5446

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