CP-violating multi-field phase transitions and gravitational waves in a hidden NJL sector

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of a cosmological first-order phase transition (FOPT) and the associated stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) in a hidden strongly coupled sector described by an extended Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model with $N_f = 3$ fermion flavors. The model incorporates a CP-violating six-fermion 't Hooft interaction, an explicit chiral symmetry breaking mass term, and chirally symmetric eight-fermion operators that stabilize the vacuum. We perform a multi-field analysis of the tunneling dynamics, going beyond conventional single-field approximations. The interplay between explicit symmetry breaking and CP violation induces a vacuum misalignment, resulting in a curved tunneling path and a spatially varying CP-violating background across the bubble wall. Through a comprehensive scan of the multi-dimensional parameter space, we find a parameter regime where the conventionally rapid transition rate of the NJL framework is drastically reduced to $β/H \sim \mathcal{O}(10^2)$. Consequently, the gravitational wave (GW) production is significantly enhanced, with the predicted SGWB peak amplitudes successfully reaching the detection sensitivity of the proposed $μ$Ares observatory. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that the macroscopic thermodynamic properties governing the SGWB are predominantly determined by the radial profile of the effective potential, rendering the resulting GW signatures remarkably insensitive to the CP-violating topological vacuum angle. Finally, the explicit symmetry breaking mass introduces a crucial energy bias between competing vacua, triggering the prompt collapse of transient domain wall configurations and thereby ensuring the cosmological viability of the model.