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Description
As the early universe expanded and cooled down, it could have undergone first-order phase transitions proceeding through the nucleation and expansion of bubbles of the thermodynamically preferred phase. Such transitions are particularly interesting due to their potential cosmological implications, which include gravitational wave production and the possibility to generate the baryon asymmetry through the mechanism of electroweak baryogenesis. Both types of physical effects are very sensitive to the terminal velocities that bubbles may achieve during the phase transition if the driving pressure is compensated by friction or backreaction effects. In this talk I will cover recent progress on the calculation of bubble velocities, emphasizing the role of hydrodynamic backreaction forces that are active even in the presence of local equilibrium. Furthermore, I will report on ongoing improvements on the treatment of CP-violating effects at the bubble's walls that are relevant for electroweak baryogenesis.
