Topological transitions and effective theories for high-temperature dynamics
Peter B. Arnold, Laurence G. Yaffe, Dong-Geul Son · 1998
Bodeker has recently argued that non-perturbative processes in very high temperature non-Abelian plasmas (such as topological transitions in the very hot early Universe) are logarithmically enhanced over previous estimates and take place at a rate per unit volume of order ff 5 T 4 ln(1=ff) for small coupling. We give a simple physical interpretation of Bodeker's qualitative and quantitative results in terms of Lenz's Law---the fact that conducting media resist changes in the magnetic field---and earlier authors' calculations of the color conductivity of such plasmas. 1 Introduction Standard electroweak theory violates baryon number via topological transitions involving the electroweak anomaly. 1 Such processes are exponentially suppressed under normal conditions, but are unsuppressed at very high temperatures in the early Universe. Non-perturbative baryon number violation is a key ingredient in scenarios for electroweak baryogenesis, which attempt 1 For some reviews of electro...