Singlet Higgs Phenomenology and the Electroweak Phase Transition

TL;DR

This paper investigates gauge singlet extensions of the Standard Model scalar sector, identifying conditions for a strong first order electroweak phase transition and exploring potential signatures at future colliders.

Contribution

It determines parameter conditions for a strong first order phase transition in singlet scalar models and discusses experimental signatures at colliders.

Findings

Conditions for strong first order phase transition identified

Constraints from Higgs searches and precision observables analyzed

Potential collider signatures for extended scalar sector discussed

Abstract

We study the phenomenology of gauge singlet extensions of the Standard Model scalar sector and their implications for the electroweak phase transition. We determine the conditions on the scalar potential parameters that lead to a strong first order phase transition as needed to produce the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe. We analyze the constraints on the potential parameters derived from Higgs boson searches at LEP and electroweak precision observables. For models that satisfy these constraints and that produce a strong first order phase transition, we discuss the prospective signatures in future Higgs studies at the Large Hadron Collider and a Linear Collider. We argue that such studies will provide powerful probes of phase transition dynamics in models with an extended scalar sector.