From vacuum decay to gravitational waves

TL;DR

This paper provides an analytical calculation of the Euclidean action for a scalar field with a quartic potential, applies it to cosmological phase transitions, and compares with existing numerical results.

Contribution

It offers a fully analytical approach to compute the Euclidean action in the thin-wall approximation and applies it to a relevant cosmological model, enhancing understanding of phase transitions.

Findings

Analytical Euclidean action calculation matches numerical results

Application to cosmological phase transition models

Insights into scalar field dynamics in early universe

Abstract

I present a recap of a fully analytical calculation of the Euclidean action for a self-interacting scalar field with a quartic potential, in the thin-wall approximation. I then apply this result to the coupled fluid-scalar field model, a phenomenologically relevant model for cosmological first order phase transitions, and compare results with numerical simulations from the literature.