Sphaleron transitions in the Minimal Standard Model and the upper bound for the Higgs Mass

Abstract

We calculate the dissipation of the baryon number after the electroweak phase transition due to thermal fluctuations above the sphaleron barrier. We consider not only the classical Boltzmann factor but also fermionic and bosonic one-loop contributions. We find that both bosonic and especially fermionic fluctuations can considerably suppress the transition rate. Assuming the Langer--Affleck formalism for this rate, the condition that an initial baryon asymmetry must not be washed out by sphaleron transitions leads, in the Minimal Standard Model ($\sin\theta_W=0$), to an upper bound for the Higgs mass in the range 60 to 75 GeV.