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  • Open Access

High-frequency gravitational waves from a first-order phase transitions

Wen-Yuan Ai*

  • State Key Laboratory of Dark Matter Physics, Tsung-Dao Lee Institute and School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 201210, China and Key Laboratory for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (MOE) and Shanghai Key Laboratory for Particle Physics and Cosmology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 201210, China and Marietta Blau Institute for Particle Physics, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dominikanerbastei 16, 1010 Vienna, Austria

  • *Contact author: wenyuan.ai@oeaw.ac.at
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 056007 – Published 6 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4v2z-fqsx

Abstract

First-order phase transitions in the early Universe are a well-motivated source of gravitational waves (GWs). In this paper, we identify a previously overlooked GW production mechanism: gravitational transition radiation, arising from graviton emission by particles whose mass changes as they pass through expanding bubble walls. Unlike conventional sources, such as bubble collisions or sound waves, this mechanism operates at the microscopic scale set by the Lorentz-contracted wall thickness, leading to GW emission at significantly higher frequencies. The resulting spectrum features a distinctive shape with a peak frequency redshifting to fpeak∼T0∼1010  Hz, where T0 is the current temperature of the Universe. This mechanism is generic and is expected to operate similarly for domain walls and other relativistic interfaces.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 056007– Published 6 March, 2026
  • Received 7 August 2025
  • Accepted 13 February 2026
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