Thermal suppression of bubble nucleation at first-order phase transitions in the early Universe

Abstract

One of the key observables in a gravitational wave power spectrum from a first order phase transition in the early Universe is the mean bubble spacing, which depends on the rate of nucleation of bubbles of the stable phase, as well as the bubble wall speed. When the bubbles expand as deflagrations, it is expected that the heating of the fluid in front of the phase boundary suppresses the nucleation rate. We quantify the effect, showing that it increases the mean bubble separation, and acts to enhance the gravitational wave signal by a factor of up to order 10. The effect is largest for small wall speeds and strong transitions.