Derivative Corrections To The Sphaleron Energy

We investigate the effects of inhomogeneous scalar field configurations on effective action at finite temperature. Recently, Walliser et al. have calculated the leading perturbative corrections to the wave function correction term $Z(\phi,T)$, for the standard model at finite temperature. Here we follow their results and apply them to calculate the effective energy of the sphaleron solution, including derivative correction term $Z(\phi,T)$. The dominant contribution to $Z(\phi,T)$ comes from vector boson loops. We also study the possible effects of corrected sphaleron energy on the baryon number violation rate in the standard model.