English

Density Induced Vacuum Instability

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2021-05-28 v1 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Abstract

We consider matter density effects in theories with a false ground state. Large and dense systems, such as stars, can destabilize a metastable minimum and allow for the formation of bubbles of the true minimum. We derive the conditions under which these bubbles form, as well as the conditions under which they either remain confined to the dense region or escape to infinity. The latter case leads to a phase transition in the universe at star formation. We explore the phenomenological consequences of such seeded phase transitions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2105.13354,
  title  = {Density Induced Vacuum Instability},
  author = {Reuven Balkin and Javi Serra and Konstantin Springmann and Stefan Stelzl and Andreas Weiler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.13354},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

33 pages, 6 figures and several appendices

R2 v1 2026-06-24T02:32:30.842Z