Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Within finite-temperature effective potential framework, we study the effects of PBHs on vacuum decay, the associated gravitational wave spectrum, and the baryon asymmetry. For the PBHs considered, the Hawking temperatures are below the ambient temperature, and their dominant effect is taken to be the gravitational distortion of the Higgs field configuration. Relative to flat spacetime, the PBH background reduces the vacuum decay exponent, enhances the gravitational wave peak amplitude, and shifts the peak frequency downward. For PBH masses of roughly $10^{11}~{\rm g}-10^{13}~{\rm g}$, the sphaleron energy is reduced, while the small PBH abundance renders the associated washout negligible. Additionally, over roughly the same mass range, PBH-emitted BSM particle decays generate a baryon asymmetry too small to spoil the agreement between the baryon abundances inferred from BBN and CMB.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Sun, Qi, Bian, Ligong
Institution: Chongqing University
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1796291137, G7223305753
OpenAlex ID: W7212087175