RT Journal Article
T1 From Hubble to Bubble
A1 Kierkla, Maciej
A1 Laverda, Giorgio
A1 Lewicki, Marek
A1 Mantziris, Andreas
A1 Piani, Matteo
A1 Rubio Peña, Javier
A1 Zych, Mateusz
AB The detection of a stochastic Gravitational Wave (GW) background sourced by a cosmological phase transition would allow us to see the early Universe from a completely new perspective, illuminating aspects of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics and inflationary cosmology. In this study, we investigate whether the evolution of the scalar potential of a minimal SM extension after inflation can lead to a strong first-order phase transition. In particular, we focus on a BSM spectator scalar field that is non-minimally coupled to gravity and has a dynamical double-well potential. As inflation ends, the potential barrier diminishes due to the evolution of the curvature scalar. Therefore, a phase transition can proceed through the nucleation of true-vacuum bubbles that collide as they fill the Universe and produce GWs. We consider high and low scales of inflation, while also taking into account a kination period between inflation and the onset of radiation domination. With this prescription, we showcase a proof-of-concept study of a new triggering mechanism for BSM phase transitions in the early Universe, whose GW signatures could potentially be probed with future detectors.
PB Springer
SN 1126-6708
YR 2023
FD 2023-11-13
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102209
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/102209
LA eng
NO 2023 Descuento SCOAP
NO Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange
NO Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal)
NO National Science Center (Polonia)
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
NO Fundación La Caixa
NO Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa
DS Docta Complutense
RD 7 abr 2025