The high-temperature two-loop effective potential of the electroweak theory in a general ʹt Hooft background gauge

We calculate the high-temperature two-loop effective potential using a general ʹt Hooft background gauge. The dependence on the gauge-fixing parameter ξ is investigated. The effective coupling constant at the critical temperature g3(Tc)2 is decreased considerably compared to the one-loop result, independent of ξ.