Quantum fluctuations around the electroweak sphaleron

Abstract

We present an analysis of the quantum fluctuations around the electroweak sphaleron and calculate the associated determinant which gives the one-loop correction to the sphaleron transition rate. The calculation differs in various technical aspects from a previous analysis by Carson and co-workers so that it can be considered as independent. The numerical results differ also, by several orders of magnitude, from those of this previous analysis; we find that the sphaleron transition rate is much less suppressed than found previously.