arXiv subjects

Tuomas V. I. Tenkanen

Publications and source records attributed to Tuomas V. I. Tenkanen.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

On the perturbative expansion at high temperature and implications for cosmological phase transitions

We revisit the perturbative expansion at high temperature and investigate its convergence by inspecting the renormalisation scale dependence of the effective potential. Although at zero temperature the renormalisation group improved effective potential is scale independent at one-loop, we show how this breaks down at high temperature, due to the misalignment of loop and coupling expansions. Following this, we show how one can recover renormalisation scale independence at high temperature, and that it requires computations at two-loop order. We demonstrate how this resolves some of the huge theoretical uncertainties in the gravitational wave signal of first-order phase transitions, though uncertainties remain stemming from the computation of the bubble nucleation rate.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Thermodynamics of a two-step electroweak phase transition

New field content beyond that of the Standard Model of particle physics can alter the thermal history of electroweak symmetry breaking in the early universe. In particular, the symmetry breaking may have occurred through a sequence of successive phase transitions. We study the thermodynamics of such scenario in a real triplet extension of the Standard Model, using nonperturbative lattice simulations. Two-step electroweak phase transition is found to occur in a narrow region of allowed parameter space with the second transition always being first order. The first transition into the phase of non-vanishing triplet vacuum expectation value is first order in a non-negligible portion of the two-step parameter space. A comparison with 2-loop perturbative calculation is provided and significant discrepancies with the nonperturbative results are identified.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Theoretical uncertainties for cosmological first-order phase transitions

We critically examine the magnitude of theoretical uncertainties in perturbative calculations of first-order phase transitions, using the Standard Model effective field theory as our guide. In the usual daisy-resummed approach, we find large uncertainties due to renormalisation scale dependence, which amount to two to three orders-of-magnitude uncertainty in the peak gravitational wave amplitude, relevant to experiments such as LISA. Alternatively, utilising dimensional reduction in a more sophisticated perturbative approach drastically reduces this scale dependence, pushing it to higher orders. Further, this approach resolves other thorny problems with daisy resummation: it is gauge invariant which is explicitly demonstrated for the Standard Model, and avoids an uncontrolled derivative expansion in the bubble nucleation rate.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Robust approach to thermal resummation: Standard Model meets a singlet

Perturbation theory alone fails to describe thermodynamics of the electroweak phase transition. We review a technique combining perturbative and non-perturbative methods to overcome this challenge. Accordingly, the principal theme is a tutorial of high-temperature dimensional reduction. We present an explicit derivation with a real singlet scalar and compute the thermal effective potential at two-loop order. In particular, we detail the dimensional reduction for a real-singlet extended Standard Model. The resulting effective theory will impact future non-perturbative studies based on lattice simulations as well as purely perturbative investigations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

On the validity of perturbative studies of the electroweak phase transition in the Two Higgs Doublet model

Making use of a dimensionally-reduced effective theory at high temperature, we perform a nonperturbative study of the electroweak phase transition in the Two Higgs Doublet model. We focus on two phenomenologically allowed points in the parameter space, carrying out dynamical lattice simulations to determine the equilibrium properties of the transition. We discuss the shortcomings of conventional perturbative approaches based on the resummed effective potential - regarding the insufficient handling of infrared resummation but also the need to account for corrections beyond 1-loop order in the presence of large scalar couplings - and demonstrate that greater accuracy can be achieved with perturbative methods within the effective theory. We find that in the presence of very large scalar couplings, strong phase transitions cannot be reliably studied with any of the methods.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Nonperturbative analysis of the gravitational waves from a first-order electroweak phase transition

We present the first end-to-end nonperturbative analysis of the gravitational wave power spectrum from a thermal first-order electroweak phase transition (EWPT), using the framework of dimensionally reduced effective field theory and pre-existing nonperturbative simulation results. We are able to show that a first-order EWPT in any beyond the Standard Model (BSM) scenario that can be described by a Standard Model-like effective theory at long distances will produce gravitational wave signatures too weak to be observed at existing and planned detectors. This implies that colliders are likely to provide the best chance of exploring the phase structure of such theories, while transitions strong enough to be detected at gravitational wave experiments require either previously neglected higher-dimension operators or light BSM fields to be included in the dimensionally reduced effective theory and therefore necessitate dedicated nonperturbative studies. As a concrete application, we analyze the real singlet-extended Standard Model and identify regions of parameter space with single-step first-order transitions, comparing our findings to those obtained using a fully perturbative method. We discuss the prospects for exploring the electroweak phase diagram in this model at collider and gravitational wave experiments in light of our nonperturbative results.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Three-dimensional effective theories for the two Higgs doublet model at high temperature

Due to the infrared problem of high-temperature field theory, a robust study of the electroweak phase transition (EWPT) requires use of non-perturbative methods. We apply the method of high-temperature dimensional reduction to the two Higgs doublet model (2HDM) to obtain three-dimensional effective theories that can be used for non-perturbative simulations. A detailed derivation of the mapping between the full four-dimensional and the effective three-dimensional theories is presented. The results will be used in future lattice studies of the 2HDM. In the limit of large mass mixing between the doublets, existing lattice results can be recycled. The results of such a study are presented in a companion paper.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Nonperturbative Analysis of the Electroweak Phase Transition in the Two Higgs Doublet Model

We perform a nonperturbative study of the electroweak phase transition (EWPT) in the two Higgs doublet model (2HDM) by deriving a dimensionally reduced high-temperature effective theory for the model, and matching to known results for the phase diagram of the effective theory. We find regions of the parameter space where the theory exhibits a first-order phase transition. In particular, our findings are consistent with previous perturbative results suggesting that the primary signature of a first-order EWPT in the 2HDM is $m_{A_0} > m_{H_0} + m_Z$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Electroweak phase transition in the $Σ$SM - I: Dimensional reduction

In a series of two papers, we make a comparative analysis of the performance of conventional perturbation theory to analyze electroweak phase transition in the real triplet extension of Standard Model ($Σ$SM). In Part I (this paper), we derive and present the high-$T$ dimensionally reduced effective theory that is suitable for numerical simulation on the lattice. In the sequel (Part II), we will present results of the numerical simulation and benchmark the performance of conventional perturbation theory. Under the assumption that $Σ$ is heavy, the resulting effective theory takes the same form as that derived from the minimal standard model. By recasting the existing non-perturbative results, we map out the phase diagram of the model in the plane of triplet mass $M_Σ$ and Higgs portal coupling $a_2$. Contrary to conventional perturbation theory, we find regions of parameter space where the phase transition may be first order, second order, or crossover. We comment on prospects for prospective future colliders to probe the region where the electroweak phase transition is first order by a precise measurement of the $h\rightarrowγγ$ partial width.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Dimensional reduction of the Standard Model coupled to a new singlet scalar field

We derive an effective dimensionally reduced theory for the Standard Model augmented by a real singlet scalar. We treat the singlet as a superheavy field and integrate it out, leaving an effective theory involving only the Higgs and $\mathrm{SU}(2)_\mathrm{L} \times \mathrm{U}(1)_Y$ gauge fields, identical to the one studied previously for the Standard Model. This opens up the possibility of efficiently computing the order and strength of the electroweak phase transition, numerically and nonperturbatively, in this extension of the Standard Model. Understanding the phase diagram is crucial for models of electroweak baryogenesis and for studying the production of gravitational waves at thermal phase transitions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Improving cosmic string network simulations

In real-time lattice simulations of cosmic strings in the Abelian Higgs model, the broken translational invariance introduces lattice artefacts; relativistic strings therefore decelerate and radiate. We introduce two different methods to construct a moving string on the lattice, and study in detail the lattice effects on moving strings. We find that there are two types of lattice artefact: there is an effective maximum speed with which a moving string can be placed on the lattice, and a moving string also slows down, with the deceleration approximately proportional to the exponential of the velocity. To mitigate this, we introduce and study an improved discretisation, based on the tree-level Lüscher-Weisz action, which is found to reduce the deceleration by an order of magnitude, and to increase the string speed limit by an amount equivalent to halving the lattice spacing. The improved algorithm is expected to be very useful for 3D simulations of cosmic strings in the early universe, where one wishes to simulate as large a volume as possible.

hep-lat↗