Effective actions and bubble nucleation from holography

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Fëanor Reuben Ares, Henriksson, Oscar, Hindmarsh, Mark, Hoyos, Carlos, Jokela, Niko
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 04.11.2021
• Subjects: Deformation effects; Domain walls; Field theory; Gravitational waves; Holography; Mathematical models; Nucleation; Parameters; Perturbation; Phase diagrams; Phase transitions; Physics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics; Physics - General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology; Physics - High Energy Physics - Phenomenology; Physics - High Energy Physics - Theory; Quantum field theory; Quantum theory; Scalars
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2109.13784

We discuss the computation of the quantum effective action of strongly interacting field theories using holographic duality, and its use to determine quasi-equilibrium parameters of first order phase transitions relevant for gravitational wave production. A particularly simple holographic model is introduced, containing only the metric and a free massive scalar field. Despite the simplicity, the model contains a rich phase diagram, including first order phase transitions at non-zero temperature, due to various multi-trace deformations. We obtain the leading terms in the effective action from homogeneous black brane solutions in the gravity dual, and linearised perturbations around them. We then employ the effective action to construct bubble and domain wall solutions in the field theory side and study their properties. In particular, we show how the scaling of the effective action with the effective number of degrees of freedom of the quantum field theory determines the corresponding scaling of gravitational wave parameters.