Mark Abney
Published 1996-06-28, updated 1996-09-26Version 2
We numerically examine the effect of thermal fluctuations on a first-order phase transition in 2+1 dimensions. By focusing on the expansion of a single bubble we are able to calculate changes in the bubble wall's velocity as well as changes in its structure relative to the standard case where the bubble expands into a homogeneous background. Not only does the wall move faster, but the transition from the symmetric to the asymmetric phase is no longer smooth, even for a fairly strong transition. We discuss how these results affect the standard picture of electroweak baryogenesis.
Comments: Latex, 30 pages, 11 ps figures, short discussion added in conclusions and minor clarifications, accepted to Phys Rev D
Journal: Phys.Rev. D55 (1997) 582-594
Unified origin for visible and dark matter in a baryon-symmetric universe from a first-order phase transition
Two-loop effective potential, thermal resummation and first-order phase transitions: Beyond the high-temperature expansion
Gravitational waves from first-order phase transitions in Majoron models of neutrino mass
