Non-abelian dynamics in first-order cosmological phase transitions
Bubble collisions in cosmological phase transitions are explored, taking the non-abelian character of the gauge fields into account. Both the QCD and electroweak phase transitions are considered. Numerical solutions of the field equations in several limits are presented. The investigations reported in this talk have been motivated by an interest in studying cosmological phase transitions quantitatively, taking the non-abelian character of the gauge fields into account. Ultimately, we hope to identify observable consequences of cosmological phase transitions. First-order phase transitions proceed by nucleation of bubbles of the broken phase in the background of the symmetric phase. Bubble collisions are of special interest, as they may lead to observable effects such as correlations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) or as seeds of galactic and extra-galactic magnetic fields. The quantum chromodynamic (QCD) and the electroweak (EW) phase transitions are both candidates of interest in these respects. The Lagrangian driving both the QCD and the EW phase transitions are essentially known and make it possible to approach the physics of the phase transitions from first principles. However, a difficulty to making reliable predictions is that the fundamental guage fields in both these instances are non-abelian: the gluon field in QCD and the W and Z fields in the EW case. The quantitative role of non-abelian fields in cosmological phase transitions is poorly known and difficult to calculate due to the nonlinearities arising from the non-abelian character of the gauge fields.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 977483
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-04-1148; TRN: US1002930
- Resource Relation:
- Journal Volume: 19; Journal Issue: 13n16; Conference: Submitted to: COSPA 2003 International symposium on cosmology and particle astrophysics, Taipei, Taiwan November 13-15, 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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