Speaker
Description
As a quantum field theory (QFT), the Standard Model describes particle interactions at zero temperature with remarkable accuracy. However, at high temperatures, such as those in the early universe, its constituents become an interacting plasma of elementary particles which is best described by combining quantum statistical mechanics with relativistic field theory. One of the preferred formalisms in thermal QFT is the imaginary time, or Matsubara, formalism in which time is compactified and fields are decomposed into Fourier modes, with different thermal masses, that live in a three-dimensional Euclidean space. At sufficiently high temperatures, the heavy Matsubara modes can be integrated out and all thermodynamical variables can be computed from a three-dimensional effective theory (3dEFT) where the Wilson coefficients explicitly depend on the temperature scale.
In this talk we will summarize the key concepts in this thermal QFT formalism. We will then present a description of the EFT-building procedure and apply it to the dimensional reduction of a simple real scalar field theory with $\mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetry to a perturbative order higher than previously worked out in the literature, particularly including operators with up to four derivatives which are instrumental in the search for stable non-trivial topological field configurations, and potentially also for an accurate prediction of the parameters of first order phase transitions.
| Are you happy for your talk to be recorded? | Yes |
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| Please select the most relevant category | Phenomenology |
| Would you be interested in receiving feedback on your presentation? | Yes |
