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Curvature Perturbations from First-Order Phase Transitions: Implications to Black Holes and Gravitational Waves

Gabriele Franciolini1,*, Yann Gouttenoire2,3,†, and Ryusuke Jinno4,‡

  • 1CERN, Theoretical Physics Department, Esplanade des Particules 1, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
  • 2School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel
  • 3PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence and MITP, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz, Germany
  • 4Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan

  • *Contact author: gabriele.franciolini@cern.ch
  • †Contact author: yann.gouttenoire@gmail.com
  • ‡Contact author: jinno@phys.sci.kobe-u.ac.jp

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 171404 – Published 30 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/tfcx-kzqx

Abstract

Understanding whether primordial black holes form during strong first-order phase transition (FOPT) is a crucial open question in cosmology. We address this using a fully covariant formalism to study cosmological perturbations, highlighting previously overlooked gauge dependencies. We show that non-covariant treatments can overestimate primordial black holes and scalar-induced gravitational waves. Once gauge dependencies are accounted for, both signals are strongly suppressed, with direct implications for the FOPT interpretation of the Pulsar Timing Array signal.

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