Vacuum topology and the electroweak phase transition

Yiyang Zhang, Francesc Ferrer, and Tanmay Vachaspati

Phys. Rev. D 96, 043014 – Published 30 August 2017

Abstract

We investigate if the topology of pure gauge fields in the electroweak vacuum can play a role in classical dynamics at the electroweak phase transition. Our numerical analysis shows that magnetic fields are produced if the initial vacuum has nontrivial Chern-Simons number, and the fields are helical if the Chern-Simons number changes during the phase transition.

Received 19 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.043014

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Particle astrophysics Primordial magnetic fields

Particles & FieldsGravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Yiyang Zhang¹, Francesc Ferrer², and Tanmay Vachaspati³

¹Physics Department and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
²Physics Department, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
³Maryland Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 4 — 15 August 2017

Reuse & Permissions

Access Options

Article Available via CHORUS

Download Accepted Manuscript

Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Physical Review D

covering particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology