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Tomislav Prokopec

Publications and source records attributed to Tomislav Prokopec.

152 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Electroweak Baryogenesis from a Classical Force

We describe a new effect which produces baryons at a first order electroweak phase transition. It operates when there is a CP-violating field present on propagating bubble walls. The novel aspect is that it involves a purely classical force, which alters the motion of particles across the wall and through diffusion creates a chiral asymmetry in front of the wall. We develop a technique for computing the baryon asymmetry using the Boltzmann equation, and a fluid approximation which allows us to model strong scattering effects. The final formula for the baryon asymmetry has a remarkably simple form.

hep-ph↗

How fast can the wall move? A study of the electroweak phase transition dynamics

We consider the dynamics of bubble growth in the Minimal Standard Model at the electroweak phase transition and determine the shape and the velocity of the phase boundary, or bubble wall. We show that in the semi-classical approximation the friction on the wall arises from the deviation of massive particle populations from thermal equilibrium. We treat these with Boltzmann equations in a fluid approximation. This approximation is reasonable for the top quarks and the light species while it underestimates the friction from the infrared $W$ bosons and Higgs particles. We use the two-loop finite temperature effective potential and find a subsonic bubble wall for the whole range of Higgs masses $0 L T > 23 $. The wall is thicker than the phase equilibrium value because out of equilibrium particles exert more friction on the back than on the base of a moving wall. We also consider the effect of an infrared gauge condensate which may exist in the symmetric phase; modelling it simplemindedly, we find that the wall may become supersonic, but not ultrarelativistic.

hep-ph↗

Is Electroweak Baryogenesis Classical?

In this lecture first I present a brief genesis of the ideas on the electroweak baryogenesis and then I focus on a mechanism in which the source of $CP$ violation is a $CP$-violating field condensate which could occur, for example, in multi-higgs extensions of the Standard Model. In the limit of a thick bubble wall one finds a classical force acting on particles proportional to the mass squared and the $CP$ violating phase. One can study this force in the fluid approximation in which the effects of transport and particle decays can be taken into account. A novelty in this talk is generalization of the problem to the relativistic velocity. There is a regime in which the final formula for the baryon asymmetry has a rather simple form.

hep-ph↗

Bubble Wall Velocity at the Electroweak Phase Transition

We calculate the velocity and thickness of a bubble wall at the electroweak phase transition in the Minimal Standard Model. We model the wall with semiclassical equations of motion and show that friction arises from the deviation of massive particle populations from thermal equilibrium. We treat these with Boltzmann equations in a fluid approximation in the background of the wall. Our analysis improves on the previous work by using the two loop effective potential, accounting for particle transport, and determining the wall thickness dynamically. We find that the wall is significantly thicker than at phase equilibrium, and that the velocity is fairly high, $v_w \simeq 0.7c$, and quite weakly dependent on the Higgs mass.

hep-ph↗

Efficient Electroweak Baryogenesis from Lepton Transport

One mechanism for generating a baryon asymmetry at the electroweak phase transition involves propagation of particle asymmetries generated by reflection from the bubble walls into the unbroken phase. Hitherto attention has focussed on top quarks because of their large mass and thus effective scattering from bubble walls. In this paper we point out that leptons may be more efficient mediators of this type of electroweak baryogenesis, particularly for thicker bubble walls favored by perturbative calculations. We carry out an analytic calculation of each stage of the mechanism and conclude it produces a baryon asymmetry compatible with observations for a wide range of parameters.

hep-ph↗

Local and Nonlocal Defect-Mediated Electroweak Baryogenesis

We consider the effects of particle transport in the topological defect-mediated electroweak baryogenesis scenarios of Ref. 1. We analyze the cases of both thin and thick defects and demonstrate an enhancement of the original mechanism in both cases due to an increased effective volume in which baryogenesis occurs. This phenomenon is a result of imperfect cancellation between the baryons and antibaryons produced on opposite faces of the defect.

hep-ph↗

Inflation and squeezed quantum states

The inflationary cosmology is analyzed from the point of view of squeezed quantum states. As noted by Grishchuk and Sidorov, the amplification of quantum fluctuations into macroscopic perturbations which occurs during cosmic inflation is a process of quantum squeezing. We carefully develop the squeezed state formalism and derive the equations that govern the evolution of a gaussian initial state. We derive the power spectrum of density perturbations for a simple inflationary model and discuss its features. We conclude that the squeezed state formalism provides an interesting framework within which to study the amplification process, but,in disagreement with the claims of Grishchuk and Sidorov, that it does {\em not} provide us with any new physical results.

astro-ph↗