arXiv subjects

Stephan J. Huber

Publications and source records attributed to Stephan J. Huber.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

A-B transition in superfluid $^3$He and cosmological phase transitions

First order phase transitions in the very early universe are a prediction of many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics and could provide the departure from equilibrium needed for a dynamical explanation of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. They could also produce gravitational waves of a frequency observable by future space-based detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). All calculations of the gravitational wave power spectrum rely on a relativistic version of the classical nucleation theory of Cahn-Hilliard and Langer, due to Coleman and Linde. The high purity and precise control of pressure and temperature achievable in the laboratory made the first-order A to B transition of superfluid $^3$He an ideal for test of classical nucleation theory. As Leggett and others have noted the theory fails dramatically. The lifetime of the metastable A phase is measurable, typically of order minutes to hours, far faster than classical nucleation theory predicts. If the nucleation of B phase from the supercooled A phase is due to a new, rapid intrinsic mechanism that would have implications for first-order cosmological phase transitions as well as predictions for gravitational wave (GW) production in the early universe. Here we discuss studies of the AB phase transition dynamics in $^3$He, both experimental and theoretical, and show how the computational technology for cosmological phase transition can be used to simulate the dynamics of the A-B transition, support the experimental investigations of the A-B transition in the QUEST-DMC collaboration with the goal of identifying and quantifying the mechanism(s) responsible for nucleation of stable phases in ultra-pure metastable quantum phases.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

A sonic boom in bubble wall friction

We revisit the computation of bubble wall friction during a cosmological first-order phase transition, using an extended fluid Ansatz to solve the linearized Boltzmann equation. A singularity is found in the fluctuations of background species as the wall approaches the speed of sound. Using hydrodynamics, we argue that a discontinuity across the speed of sound is expected on general grounds, which manifests itself as the singularity in the solution of the linearized system. We discuss this result in comparison with alternative approaches proposed recently, which find a regular behaviour of the friction for all velocities.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Is Cosmological Tuning Fine or Coarse?

The fine-tuning of the universe for life, the idea that the constants of nature (or ratios between them) must belong to very small intervals in order for life to exist, has been debated by scientists for several decades. Several criticisms have emerged concerning probabilistic measurement of life-permitting intervals. Herein, a Bayesian statistical approach is used to assign an upper bound for the probability of tuning, which is invariant with respect to change of physical units, and under certain assumptions it is small whenever the life-permitting interval is small on a relative scale. The computation of the upper bound of the tuning probability is achieved by first assuming that the prior is chosen by the principle of maximum entropy (MaxEnt). The unknown parameters of this MaxEnt distribution are then handled in such a way that the weak anthropic principle is not violated. The MaxEnt assumption is "maximally noncommittal with regard to missing information." This approach is sufficiently general to be applied to constants of current cosmological models, or to other constants possibly under different models. Application of the MaxEnt model reveals, for example, that the ratio of the universal gravitational constant to the square of the Hubble constant is finely tuned in some cases, whereas the amplitude of primordial fluctuations is not.

physics.gen-ph↗

arXiv2021

Detecting gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions with LISA: an update

We investigate the potential for observing gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions with LISA in light of recent theoretical and experimental developments. Our analysis is based on current state-of-the-art simulations of sound waves in the cosmic fluid after the phase transition completes. We discuss the various sources of gravitational radiation, the underlying parameters describing the phase transition and a variety of viable particle physics models in this context, clarifying common misconceptions that appear in the literature and identifying open questions requiring future study. We also present a web-based tool, PTPlot, that allows users to obtain up-to-date detection prospects for a given set of phase transition parameters at LISA.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2020

Black holes seeding cosmological phase transitions

We consider a generic first-order phase transition at finite temperature and investigate to what extent a population of primordial black holes, of variable masses, can affect the rate of bubble nucleation. Using a thin-wall approximation, we construct the Euclidean configurations that describe transition at finite temperature. After the transition, the remnant black hole mass is dictated dynamically by the equations of motion. The transition exponent is computed and displays an explicit dependence on temperature. We find the configuration with the lowest Euclidean action to be static and $O(3)$ symmetric; therefore, the transition takes place via thermal excitation. The transition exponent exhibits a strong dependence on the seed mass black hole, $M_+$, being almost directly proportional. A new nucleation condition in the presence of black holes is derived and the nucleation temperature is compared to the familiar flat-space result, i.e. $S_3/T$. For an electroweak-like phase transition it is possible to enhance the nucleation rate if $M_+ \lesssim 10^{15} M_{\rm P}$. Finally, we outline the possible transition scenarios and the consequences for the power spectrum of stochastic gravitational waves produced due to the first-order phase transition.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Shape of the acoustic gravitational wave power spectrum from a first order phase transition

We present results from large-scale numerical simulations of a first order thermal phase transition in the early universe, in order to explore the shape of the acoustic gravitational wave and the velocity power spectra. We compare the results with the predictions of the recently proposed sound shell model. For the gravitational wave power spectrum, we find that the predicted $k^{-3}$ behaviour, where $k$ is the wavenumber, emerges clearly for detonations. The power spectra from deflagrations show similar features, but exhibit a steeper high-$k$ decay and an extra feature not accounted for in the model. There are two independent length scales: the mean bubble separation and the thickness of the sound shell around the expanding bubble of the low temperature phase. It is the sound shell thickness which sets the position of the peak of the power spectrum. The low wavenumber behaviour of the velocity power spectrum is consistent with a causal $k^{3}$, except for the thinnest sound shell, where it is steeper. We present parameters for a simple broken power law fit to the gravitational wave power spectrum for wall speeds well away from the speed of sound where this form can be usefully applied. We examine the prospects for the detection, showing that a LISA-like mission has the sensitivity to detect a gravitational wave signal from sound waves with an RMS fluid velocity of about $0.05c$, produced from bubbles with a mean separation of about $10^{-2}$ of the Hubble radius. The shape of the gravitational wave power spectrum depends on the bubble wall speed, and it may be possible to estimate the wall speed, and constrain other phase transition parameters, with an accurate measurement of a stochastic gravitational wave background.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

A rapid holographic phase transition with brane-localized curvature

We study the finite-temperature properties of the Randall-Sundrum model in the presence of brane-localized curvature. At high temperature, as dictated by AdS/CFT, the theory is in a confined phase dual to the planar AdS black hole. When the radion is stabilized, à la Goldberger-Wise, a holographic first-order phase transition proceeds. The brane-localized curvature contributes to the radion kinetic energy, substantially decreasing the critical bubble energy. Contrary to previous results, the phase transition completes at much larger values of $N$, the number of degrees of freedom in the CFT. Moreover, the field value of the bulk scalar on the TeV-brane is allowed to become large, while remaining consistent with back-reaction constraints. Assisted by this fact, we find that for a wide region in the parameter space tunneling happens rather quickly, i.e. the nucleation temperature becomes of the order of the critical temperature. At zero temperature, the most important signature of brane-localized curvature is the reduction of spin-2 Kaluza-Klein graviton masses and a heavier radion.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Bubble wall velocities in the Standard Model and beyond

We present results for the bubble wall velocity and bubble wall thickness during a cosmological first-order phase transition in a condensed form. Our results are for minimal extensions of the Standard Model but in principle are applicable to a much broader class of settings. Our first assumption about the model is that only the electroweak Higgs is obtaining a vacuum expectation value during the phase transition. The second is that most of the friction is produced by electroweak gauge bosons and top quarks. Under these assumptions the bubble wall velocity and thickness can be deduced as a function of two equilibrium properties of the plasma: the strength of the phase transition and the pressure difference along the bubble wall.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Does zero temperature decide on the nature of the electroweak phase transition?

Taking on a new perspective of the electroweak phase transition, we investigate in detail the role played by the depth of the electroweak minimum ("vacuum energy difference"). We find a strong correlation between the vacuum energy difference and the strength of the phase transition. This correlation only breaks down if a negative eigenvalue develops upon thermal corrections in the squared scalar mass matrix in the broken vacuum before the critical temperature. As a result the scalar fields slide across field space toward the symmetric vacuum, often causing a significantly weakened phase transition. Phenomenological constraints are found to strongly disfavour such sliding scalar scenarios. For several popular models, we suggest numerical bounds that guarantee a strong first order electroweak phase transition. The zero temperature phenomenology can then be studied in these parameter regions without the need for any finite temperature calculations. For almost all non-supersymmetric models with phenomenologically viable parameter points, we find a strong phase transition is guaranteed if the vacuum energy difference is greater than $-8.8\times 10^7$~\text{GeV}$^4$. For the GNMSSM, we guarantee a strong phase transition for phenomenologically viable parameter points if the vacuum energy difference is greater than $-6.9\times 10^7$~\text{GeV}$^4$. Alternatively, we capture more of the parameter space exhibiting a strong phase transition if we impose a simultaneous bound on the vacuum energy difference and the singlet mass.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Detectable Gravitational Waves from Very Strong Phase Transitions in the General NMSSM

We study the general NMSSM with an emphasis on the parameter regions with a very strong first-order electroweak phase transition (EWPT). In the presence of heavy fields coupled to the Higgs sector, the analysis can be problematic due to the existence of sizable radiative corrections. In this paper we propose a subtraction scheme that helps to circumvent this problem. For simplicity we focus on a parameter region that is by construction hidden from the current collider searches. The analysis proves that (at least) in the identified parameter region the EWPT can be very strong and striking gravitational wave signals can be produced. The corresponding gravitational stochastic background can potentially be detected at the planned space-based gravitational wave observatory eLISA, depending on the specific experiment design that will be approved.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Exploring holographic Composite Higgs models

Simple Composite Higgs models predict new vector-like fermions not too far from the electroweak scale, yet LHC limits are now sensitive to the TeV scale. Motivated by this tension, we explore the holographic dual of the minimal model, MCHM5, to understand how far naive 4D predictions are from their 5D duals. Interestingly, we find that the usual hierarchy among the vector-like quarks is not generic, hence ameliorating the tuning issue. We find that lowering the UV cutoff in the 5D picture allows for heavier top partners, while keeping the mass of the Higgs boson at its observed value. In the 4D dual this corresponds to increasing the number of colours. This is essentially a Little Randall-Sundrum Model, which are known to reduce some flavour and electroweak constraints. Furthermore, in anticipation of the ongoing efforts at the LHC to put bounds on the top Yukawa, we demonstrate that deviations from the SM can be suppressed or enhanced with respect to what is expected from mere symmetry arguments in 4D. We conclude that the 5D holographic realisation of the MCHM5 with a small UV cutoff is not in tension with the current experimental data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Numerical simulations of acoustically generated gravitational waves at a first order phase transition

We present details of numerical simulations of the gravitational radiation produced by a first order thermal phase transition in the early universe. We confirm that the dominant source of gravitational waves is sound waves generated by the expanding bubbles of the low-temperature phase. We demonstrate that the sound waves have a power spectrum with a power-law form between the scales set by the average bubble separation (which sets the length scale of the fluid flow $L_\text{f}$) and the bubble wall width. The sound waves generate gravitational waves whose power spectrum also has a power-law form, at a rate proportional to $L_\text{f}$ and the square of the fluid kinetic energy density. We identify a dimensionless parameter $\tildeΩ_\text{GW}$ characterising the efficiency of this "acoustic" gravitational wave production whose value is $8π\tildeΩ_\text{GW} \simeq 0.8 \pm 0.1$ across all our simulations. We compare the acoustic gravitational waves with the standard prediction from the envelope approximation. Not only is the power spectrum steeper (apart from an initial transient) but the gravitational wave energy density is generically larger by the ratio of the Hubble time to the phase transition duration, which can be 2 orders of magnitude or more in a typical first order electroweak phase transition.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Non-custodial warped extra dimensions at the LHC

With the prospect of improved Higgs measurements at the LHC and at proposed future colliders such as ILC, CLIC and TLEP we study the non-custodial Randall-Sundrum model with bulk SM fields and compare brane and bulk Higgs scenarios. We compute the electroweak precision observables and argue that incalculable contributions to these, in the form of higher dimensional operators, could have a non-negligable impact. This could potentially reduce the bound on the lowest Kaluza-Klein gauge boson masses to the 5 TeV range, making these states detectable at the LHC. In a second part, we compute the misalignment between fermion masses and Yukawa couplings caused by vector-like Kaluza-Klein fermions. The deviation of the top Yukawa can easily reach 10%, making it observable at the high-luminosity LHC. Corrections to the bottom and tau Yukawa couplings can be at the percent level and detectable at ILC, CLIC or TLEP.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Non-Custodial Warped Extra Dimensions at the LHC?

With the prospect of improved Higgs measurements at the LHC and at proposed future colliders such as ILC, CLIC and TLEP we study the non-custodial Randall-Sundrum model with bulk SM fields and compare brane and bulk Higgs scenarios. The latter bear resemblance to the well studied type III two-Higgs-doublet models. We compute the electroweak precision observables and argue that incalculable contributions to these, in the form of higher dimensional operators, could have an impact on the T-parameter. This could potentially reduce the bound on the lowest Kaluza-Klein gauge boson masses to the 5 TeV range, making them detectable at the LHC. In a second part, we compute the misalignment between fermion masses and Yukawa couplings caused by vector-like Kaluza-Klein fermions in this setup. The misalignment of the top Yukawa can easily reach 10%, making it observable at the high-luminosity LHC. Corrections to the bottom and tau Yukawa couplings can be at the percent level and detectable at ILC, CLIC or TLEP.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Cosmological Signatures of a UV-Conformal Standard Model

Quantum scale invariance in the UV has been recently advocated as an attractive way of solving the gauge hierarchy problem arising in the Standard Model. We explore the cosmological signatures at the electroweak scale when the breaking of scale invariance originates from a hidden sector and is mediated to the Standard Model by gauge interactions (Gauge Mediation). These scenarios, while being hard to distinguish from the Standard Model at LHC, can give rise to a strong electroweak phase transition leading to the generation of a large stochastic gravitational wave background in possible reach of future space-based detectors such as eLISA and BBO. This relic would be the cosmological imprint of the breaking of scale invariance in Nature.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Gravitational waves from the sound of a first order phase transition

We report on the first 3-dimensional numerical simulations of first-order phase transitions in the early universe to include the cosmic fluid as well as the scalar field order parameter. We calculate the gravitational wave (GW) spectrum resulting from the nucleation, expansion and collision of bubbles of the low-temperature phase, for phase transition strengths and bubble wall velocities covering many cases of interest. We find that the compression waves in the fluid continue to be a source of GWs long after the bubbles have merged, a new effect not taken properly into account in previous modelling of the GW source. For a wide range of models the main source of the GWs produced by a phase transition is therefore the sound the bubbles make.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

An efficient approach to electroweak bubble velocities

Extensions of the Standard Model are being considered as viable settings for a first-order electroweak phase transition which satisfy Sakharov's three conditions for the generation of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe. These extensions provide a sufficiently strong phase transition and remove the main obstacles which appear in the context of the Standard Model: A far-too-high lower bound on the Higgs mass, immediate wipeout of the newly-created baryon asymmetry, and insufficient CP violation. We describe the Universe hydrodynamically as a fluid coupled to the Higgs field via a phenomenological friction term, and study the time evolution of bubbles nucleated during the phase transition. We express the friction term in the hydrodynamic equations in terms of the particle content of the model, calibrate the friction on the basis of existing calculations for the Standard Model, and produce predictions for the velocity of the expanding bubble wall in the stationary regime. This way we develop a very efficient approach to compute bubble velocities. As an example, we apply our formalism to the first-order phase transition of a dimension-6 extension of the Standard Model which, within the present bounds on the Higgs mass, can reproduce the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe. Depending on the strength of the phase transition, the wall velocity varies from about 0.3 to approaching the speed of light. Our method can easily be adapted to compute wall velocities in other interesting extensions of the Standard Model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

The bubble wall velocity in the minimal supersymmetric light stop scenario

We build on existing calculations of the wall velocity of the expanding bubbles of the broken symmetry phase in a first-order electroweak phase transition within the light stop scenario (LSS) of the MSSM. We carry out the analysis using the 2-loop thermal potential for values of the Higgs mass consistent with present experimental bounds. Our approach relies on describing the interaction between the bubble and the hot plasma by a single friction parameter, which we fix by matching to an existing 1-loop computation and extrapolate it to our regime of interest. For a sufficiently strong phase transition (in which washout of the newly-created baryon asymmetry is prevented) we obtain values of the wall velocity, v_w~0.05, far below the speed of sound in the medium, and not very much deviating from the previous 1-loop calculation. We also find that the phase transition is about 10% stronger than suggested by simply evaluating the thermal potential at the critical temperature.

hep-ph↗