The Electro-Weak Phase Transition at Colliders: Confronting Theoretical Uncertainties and Complementary Channels

We explore and contrast the capabilities of future colliders to probe the nature of the electro-weak phase transition. We focus on the real singlet scalar field extension of the Standard Model, representing the most minimal, yet most elusive, framework that can enable a strong first-order electro-weak phase transition. By taking into account the theoretical uncertainties and employing the powerful complementarity between gauge and Higgs boson pair channels in the searches for new scalar particles, we find that a even though a 27 TeV proton collider can probe a large fraction of the parameter space, it will not conclusively discover nor exclude its totality. On the other hand, a 100 TeV proton collider can confirm or falsify a strong first-order transition, relatively early in its lifetime. Such an early discovery would allow for precise measurements of the new phenomena to be obtained and would pave the way to definitively verify whether this is indeed the physical remnant of a scalar field that catalyses a strong first-order transition.