No Arabic abstract
We study the gravitational wave (GW) signature of first-order chiral phase transitions ($chi$PT) in strongly interacting hidden or dark sectors. We do so using several effective models in order to reliably capture the relevant non-perturbative dynamics. This approach allows us to explicitly calculate key quantities characterizing the $chi$PT without having to resort to rough estimates. Most importantly, we find that the transitions inverse duration $beta$ normalized to the Hubble parameter $H$ is at least two orders of magnitude larger than typically assumed in comparable scenarios, namely $beta/Hgtrsimmathcal{O}(10^4)$. The obtained GW spectra then suggest that signals from hidden $chi$PTs occurring at around 100 MeV can be in reach of LISA, while DECIGO and BBO may detect a stochastic GW background associated with transitions between roughly 1 GeV and 10 TeV. Signatures of transitions at higher temperatures are found to be outside the range of any currently proposed experiment. Even though predictions from different effective models are qualitatively similar, we find that they may vary considerably from a quantitative point of view, which highlights the need for true first-principle calculations such as lattice simulations.
First order phase transitions in the early Universe generate gravitational waves, which may be observable in future space-based gravitational wave observatiories, e.g. the European eLISA satellite constellation. The gravitational waves provide an unprecedented direct view of the Universe at the time of their creation. We study the generation of the gravitational waves during a first order phase transition using large-scale simulations of a model consisting of relativistic fluid and an order parameter field. We observe that the dominant source of gravitational waves is the sound generated by the transition, resulting in considerably stronger radiation than earlier calculations have indicated.
We show how the generation of right-handed neutrino masses in Majoron models may be associated with a first-order phase transition and accompanied by the production of a stochastic background of gravitational waves (GWs). We explore different energy scales with only renormalizable operators in the effective potential. If the phase transition occurs above the electroweak scale, the signal can be tested by future interferometers. We consider two possible energy scales for phase transitions below the electroweak scale. If the phase transition occurs at a GeV, the signal can be tested at LISA and provide a complementary cosmological probe to right-handed neutrino searches at the FASER detector. If the phase transition occurs below 100 keV, we find that the peak of the GW spectrum is two or more orders of magnitude below the putative NANOGrav GW signal at low frequencies, but well within reach of the SKA and THEIA experiments. We show how searches of very low frequency GWs are motivated by solutions to the Hubble tension in which ordinary neutrinos interact with the dark sector. We also present general calculations of the phase transition and Euclidean action that apply beyond Majoron models.
Dark Yang-Mills sectors, which are ubiquitous in the string landscape, may be reheated above their critical temperature and subsequently go through a confining first-order phase transition that produces stochastic gravitational waves in the early universe. Taking into account constraints from lattice and from Yang-Mills (center and Weyl) symmetries, we use a phenomenological model to construct an effective potential of the semi quark-gluon plasma phase, from which we compute the gravitational wave signal produced during confinement for numerous gauge groups. The signal is maximized when the dark sector dominates the energy density of the universe at the time of the phase transition. In that case, we find that it is within reach of the next-to-next generation of experiments (BBO, DECIGO) for a range of dark confinement scales near the weak scale.
Drastic changes in the early universe such as first-order phase transition can produce a stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background. We investigate the testability of a scale invariant extension of the standard model (SM) using the GW background produced by the chiral phase transition in a strongly interacting QCD-like hidden sector, which, via a SM singlet real scalar mediator, triggers the electroweak phase transition. Using the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio method in a mean field approximation we estimate the GW signal and find that it can be tested by future space based detectors.
We introduce a model in which the genesis of dark matter (DM) and neutrino masses is associated with a first order phase transition of a scalar singlet field. During the phase transition a source right-handed neutrino (RHN) acquires a spacetime-dependent mass dynamically, a small fraction of which is converted via resonant oscillations into a very weakly mixed dark RHN which decays to a dark matter RHN with the observed relic abundance. Neutrino masses are generated via a traditional two RHN type-I seesaw between a fourth RHN and the source neutrino. The gravitational waves produced during the phase transition have a peak frequency that increases with the DM mass, and are detectable at future gravitational wave interferometers for DM masses above ~ 1 MeV. Since the source RHNs are heavier than the electroweak scale, successful leptogenesis is also attainable.