Phase transition temperatures at next-to-leading order

P Arnold - Physical Review D, 1992 - APS
Physical Review D, 1992APS
Broken gauge symmetries are typically restored at high temperature, and the leading-order
result for the critical temperature T c has been known for many years. I find a simple
expression for the next-to-leading-order correction to T c, which is order eT c where e is the
gauge coupling. The result is a simple consequence of recent work on summing ring
diagrams at high temperature in gauge theories. The result is valid when the Higgs self-
coupling λ is the same order as e 2, and it does not address the case of strongly first-order …
Abstract
Broken gauge symmetries are typically restored at high temperature, and the leading-order result for the critical temperature T c has been known for many years. I find a simple expression for the next-to-leading-order correction to T c, which is order eT c where e is the gauge coupling. The result is a simple consequence of recent work on summing ring diagrams at high temperature in gauge theories. The result is valid when the Higgs self-coupling λ is the same order as e 2, and it does not address the case of strongly first-order phase transitions, which arise when λ≪ e 2.
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