Solitosynthesis induced phase transitions (1202.0873v3)

Abstract: We consider a phase transition induced by the growth of Q-balls in a false vacuum. Such a transition could occur in the early universe in the case of broken supersymmetry with a metastable false vacuum. Small Q-balls with a negative potential energy can grow in a false vacuum by accretion of global charge until they reach critical size, expand, and cause a phase transition. We consider the growth of Q-balls from small to large, using the Bethe-Salpeter equation to describe small charge solitons and connecting to the growth of larger solitons for which the semiclassical approximation is reliable. We thus test the scenario in a simplified example inspired by supersymmetric extensions of the standard model.