Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMB
Cosmological phase transitions (CPTs), such as the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) and the electroweak (EW) ones, play a significant role in both particle physics and cosmology. In this letter, we propose to probe the first-order CPTs, by detecting gravitational waves (GWs) which are generated during the...
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doaj-9965bc6700ff4f44b175da36de899a382020-11-24T23:17:03ZengElsevierPhysics Letters B0370-26931873-24452017-02-01765C33934310.1016/j.physletb.2016.12.029Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMBHongliang Jiang0Tao Liu1Sichun Sun2Yi Wang3Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative RegionDepartment of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative RegionJockey Club Institute for Advanced Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative RegionDepartment of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative RegionCosmological phase transitions (CPTs), such as the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) and the electroweak (EW) ones, play a significant role in both particle physics and cosmology. In this letter, we propose to probe the first-order CPTs, by detecting gravitational waves (GWs) which are generated during the phase transitions through the cosmic microwave background (CMB). If happened around the inflation era, the first-order CPTs may yield low-frequency GWs due to bubble dynamics, leaving imprints on the CMB. In contrast to the nearly scale-invariant primordial GWs caused by vacuum fluctuation, these bubble-generated GWs are scale dependent and have non-trivial B-mode spectra. If decoupled from inflaton, the EWPT during inflation may serve as a probe for the one after reheating where the baryon asymmetry could be generated via EW baryogenesis (EWBG). The CMB thus provides a potential way to test the feasibility of the EWBG, complementary to the collider measurements of Higgs potential and the direct detection of GWs generated during EWPT.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269316307675 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Hongliang Jiang Tao Liu Sichun Sun Yi Wang |
spellingShingle |
Hongliang Jiang Tao Liu Sichun Sun Yi Wang Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMB Physics Letters B |
author_facet |
Hongliang Jiang Tao Liu Sichun Sun Yi Wang |
author_sort |
Hongliang Jiang |
title |
Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMB |
title_short |
Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMB |
title_full |
Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMB |
title_fullStr |
Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMB |
title_full_unstemmed |
Echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the CMB |
title_sort |
echoes of inflationary first-order phase transitions in the cmb |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Physics Letters B |
issn |
0370-2693 1873-2445 |
publishDate |
2017-02-01 |
description |
Cosmological phase transitions (CPTs), such as the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) and the electroweak (EW) ones, play a significant role in both particle physics and cosmology. In this letter, we propose to probe the first-order CPTs, by detecting gravitational waves (GWs) which are generated during the phase transitions through the cosmic microwave background (CMB). If happened around the inflation era, the first-order CPTs may yield low-frequency GWs due to bubble dynamics, leaving imprints on the CMB. In contrast to the nearly scale-invariant primordial GWs caused by vacuum fluctuation, these bubble-generated GWs are scale dependent and have non-trivial B-mode spectra. If decoupled from inflaton, the EWPT during inflation may serve as a probe for the one after reheating where the baryon asymmetry could be generated via EW baryogenesis (EWBG). The CMB thus provides a potential way to test the feasibility of the EWBG, complementary to the collider measurements of Higgs potential and the direct detection of GWs generated during EWPT. |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269316307675 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT hongliangjiang echoesofinflationaryfirstorderphasetransitionsinthecmb AT taoliu echoesofinflationaryfirstorderphasetransitionsinthecmb AT sichunsun echoesofinflationaryfirstorderphasetransitionsinthecmb AT yiwang echoesofinflationaryfirstorderphasetransitionsinthecmb |
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1725585000386002944 |