Thermodynamics of Hidden Sector Gaugino Condensation in the Expanding Universe

Abstract

This work examines the confining-deconfining phase transition in a hidden Yang Mills sector with scale $\Lambda \sim 10^{14}$ GeV appropriate to dilaton stabilization and SUSY-breaking via formation of a gaugino consensate. If the transition is assumed to take place through homogenous nucleation, then under reasonable assumptions it is found that a critical bubble, formed at a temperature which provides enough supercooling, is not large enough to accommodate an adequate number $(\gsim 100)$ of quanta of the confined phase (`hidden hadrons') to allow a consistent thermodynamic description. Thus, a first order transition in the hidden sector may not be possible in the expanding universe.