Field-theoretic derivation of bubble-wall force
Marc Barroso Mancha, Tomislav Prokopec, Bogumiła Świeżewska
Abstract
A bstract We derive a general quantum field theoretic formula for the force acting on expanding bubbles of a first order phase transition in the early Universe setting. In the thermodynamic limit the force is proportional to the entropy increase across the bubble of active species that exert a force on the bubble interface. When local thermal equilibrium is attained, we find a strong friction force which grows as the Lorentz factor squared, such that the bubbles quickly reach stationary state and cannot run away . We also study an opposite case when scatterings are negligible across the wall (ballistic limit), finding that the force saturates for moderate Lorentz factors thus allowing for a runaway behavior. We apply our formalism to a massive real scalar field, the standard model and its simple portal extension. For completeness, we also present a derivation of the renormalized, one-loop, thermal energy-momentum tensor for the standard model and demonstrate its gauge independence.