Analytic derivation of the GW spectrum from bubble collisions in an FLRW universe

We generalize the analytic formula for the gravitational-wave spectrum from bubble collisions during a cosmological first-order phase transition, under the thin-wall and envelope approximations, by incorporating the effect of cosmic expansion in the FLRW metric. Along with presenting the complete analytic expression and corresponding numerical results, we also derive simplified formulas valid in the large- and small- <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <a:mi>k</a:mi> </a:math> limits, as well as in the Minkowski limit. The latter expansion reveals that the Minkowski approximation breaks down for <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <c:mi>β</c:mi> <c:mo>/</c:mo> <c:msub> <c:mi>H</c:mi> <c:mo>*</c:mo> </c:msub> <c:mo>≲</c:mo> <c:mn>10</c:mn> </c:math> , where <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <e:mi>β</e:mi> </e:math> denotes the inverse duration of the phase transition and <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <g:msub> <g:mi>H</g:mi> <g:mo>*</g:mo> </g:msub> </g:math> the Hubble parameter at its completion. Furthermore, the next-to-leading-order term contributes about a 10% correction for <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <i:mi>β</i:mi> <i:mo>/</i:mo> <i:msub> <i:mi>H</i:mi> <i:mo>*</i:mo> </i:msub> <i:mo>∼</i:mo> <i:mn>140</i:mn> </i:math> , a typical value for the electroweak phase transition.