Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strong
Abstract We study the generation of gravitational waves (GWs) during a cosmological first-order phase transition (PT) using the recently introduced Higgsless approach to numerically simulate the fluid motion induced by the PT. We present for the first time GW spectra sourced by bulk fluid motion in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of High Energy Physics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2025)217 |
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| author | Chiara Caprini Ryusuke Jinno Thomas Konstandin Alberto Roper Pol Henrique Rubira Isak Stomberg |
| author_facet | Chiara Caprini Ryusuke Jinno Thomas Konstandin Alberto Roper Pol Henrique Rubira Isak Stomberg |
| author_sort | Chiara Caprini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract We study the generation of gravitational waves (GWs) during a cosmological first-order phase transition (PT) using the recently introduced Higgsless approach to numerically simulate the fluid motion induced by the PT. We present for the first time GW spectra sourced by bulk fluid motion in the aftermath of strong first-order PTs (α = 0.5), alongside weak (α = 0.0046) and intermediate (α = 0.05) PTs, previously considered in the literature. We find that, for intermediate and strong PTs, the kinetic energy in our simulations decays, following a power law in time. The decay is potentially determined by non-linear dynamics and hence related to the production of vorticity. We show that the assumption that the source is stationary in time, characteristic of compressional motion in the linear regime (sound waves), agrees with our numerical results for weak PTs, since in this case the kinetic energy does not decay with time. We then provide a theoretical framework that extends the stationary assumption to one that accounts for the time evolution of the source: as a result, the GW energy density is no longer linearly increasing with the source duration, but proportional to the integral over time of the squared kinetic energy fraction. This effectively reduces the linear growth rate of the GW energy density and allows to account for the period of transition from the linear to the non-linear regimes of the fluid perturbations. We validate the novel theoretical model with the results of simulations and provide templates for the GW spectrum for a broad range of PT parameters. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c2bf4ddf5c2a4fa5889825f3706a8843 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1029-8479 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of High Energy Physics |
| spelling | doaj-art-c2bf4ddf5c2a4fa5889825f3706a88432025-08-20T03:45:40ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792025-07-012025716910.1007/JHEP07(2025)217Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strongChiara Caprini0Ryusuke Jinno1Thomas Konstandin2Alberto Roper Pol3Henrique Rubira4Isak Stomberg5Département de Physique Théorique, Université de GenèveDepartment of Physics, Kobe UniversityDeutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESYDépartement de Physique Théorique, Université de GenèvePhysik Department T31, Technische Universität München James-Franck-Straße 1Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESYAbstract We study the generation of gravitational waves (GWs) during a cosmological first-order phase transition (PT) using the recently introduced Higgsless approach to numerically simulate the fluid motion induced by the PT. We present for the first time GW spectra sourced by bulk fluid motion in the aftermath of strong first-order PTs (α = 0.5), alongside weak (α = 0.0046) and intermediate (α = 0.05) PTs, previously considered in the literature. We find that, for intermediate and strong PTs, the kinetic energy in our simulations decays, following a power law in time. The decay is potentially determined by non-linear dynamics and hence related to the production of vorticity. We show that the assumption that the source is stationary in time, characteristic of compressional motion in the linear regime (sound waves), agrees with our numerical results for weak PTs, since in this case the kinetic energy does not decay with time. We then provide a theoretical framework that extends the stationary assumption to one that accounts for the time evolution of the source: as a result, the GW energy density is no longer linearly increasing with the source duration, but proportional to the integral over time of the squared kinetic energy fraction. This effectively reduces the linear growth rate of the GW energy density and allows to account for the period of transition from the linear to the non-linear regimes of the fluid perturbations. We validate the novel theoretical model with the results of simulations and provide templates for the GW spectrum for a broad range of PT parameters.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2025)217Phase Transitions in the Early UniverseCosmology of Theories BSM |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Caprini Ryusuke Jinno Thomas Konstandin Alberto Roper Pol Henrique Rubira Isak Stomberg Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strong Journal of High Energy Physics Phase Transitions in the Early Universe Cosmology of Theories BSM |
| title | Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strong |
| title_full | Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strong |
| title_fullStr | Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strong |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strong |
| title_short | Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions: from weak to strong |
| title_sort | gravitational waves from first order phase transitions from weak to strong |
| topic | Phase Transitions in the Early Universe Cosmology of Theories BSM |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2025)217 |
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