@article{Electroweak:3412,
      recid = {3412},
      author = {Wang, Yikun},
      title = {Electroweak Symmetry in the Early Universe},
      publisher = {The University of Chicago},
      school = {Ph.D.},
      address = {2021-08},
      pages = {289},
      abstract = {The thermal history of the Higgs boson and its connection  with electroweak symmetry breaking play an important role  in the production of cosmological relics. In this thesis, I  study different patterns of the electroweak symmetry at  finite temperatures to build a bridge connecting particle  cosmology, Higgs phenomenology and physics beyond the  Standard Model, that may provide answers to some of the  open questions in particle physics. I carefully scrutinize  the experimental probes, e.g. measurements of the  properties of the Higgs boson and gravitational wave  detection, that can directly or indirectly provide  information on the validity of the theories I investigate  and their early universe electroweak symmetry  behavior.

The existence of a strong first order  electroweak phase transition in the early universe is a  necessary building block of the electroweak baryogenesis  mechanism, that can explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry  of the universe. I investigate representative extensions of  the Standard Model Higgs sector, which allow for a strong  first order electroweak phase transition and open  opportunities for new Higgs decay channels at colliders. I  study the electroweak phase transition dynamics, and the  relevance of nucleation in models with an additional  singlet, both in theories with SM gauge symmetries and in  the case of supersymmetry. I also propose a novel scenario,  where the electroweak symmetry remains broken up to very  high temperatures, thereby allowing to evade strong  experimental bounds from CP violation that otherwise plays  important limitations on electroweak baryogenesis  scenarios.

Dynamics of Higgs field bubbles can directly  affect the power spectrum of the gravitational wave signals  generated during a strong first order phase transition. I  perform a first study of the speed of the Higgs bubble  wall, and show that it can be significantly slowed down by  friction from particles in the hot plasma with resumed soft  and collinear radiations.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3412},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.3412},
}