Gravitational Waves from Electroweak Phase Transitions

Abstract

Gravitational waves are generated during first-order phase transitions, either by turbolence or by bubble collisions. If the transition takes place at temperatures of the order of the electroweak scale, the frequency of these gravitational waves is today just within the band of the planned space interferometer LISA. We present a detailed analysis of the production of gravitational waves during an electroweak phase transition in different supersymmetric models where, contrary to the case of the Standard Model, the transition can be first order. We find that the stochastic background of gravitational waves generated by bubble nucleation can reach a maximum value h0^2 Omega_{gw} of order 10^{-10} - 10^{-11}, which is within the reach of the planned sensitivity of LISA, while turbolence can even produce signals at the level h0^2 Omega_{gw} \sim 10^{-9}. These values of h0^2 Omega_{gw} are obtained in the regions of the parameter space which can account for the generation of the baryon asymmetry at the electroweak scale.