Related papers: Topics in vacuum decay (Ph.D Thesis)
Various aspects of time-dependent processes are studied within the large N approximation of O(N) vector models in three dimensions. These include the rolling of fields, the tunneling and decay of vacua. We present an exact solution for the…
We study the possibility that the vacuum energy density of scalar and internal-space gauge fields arising from the process of dimensional reduction of higher dimensional gravity theories plays the role of quintessence. We show that, for the…
Within the so-called scaled quantum theory, the standard bouncing ball problem is analyzed under the presence of a gravitational field and harmonic potential. In this framework, the quantum-classical transition of the density matrix is…
The cosmological remnants of a first-order phase transition generally depend on the perturbations that the walls of expanding bubbles originate in the plasma. Several of the formation mechanisms occur when bubbles collide and lose their…
All possible evolution scenarios of a thin vacuum shell surrounding the spherically symmetric de Sitter space have been determined and the corresponding global geometries have been constructed. Such configurations can appear at the final…
The Euclidean action is calculated in the thin-wall approximation for a first-order vacuum phase transition in which the bubble appears symmetrically around either a global monopole or a gauge cosmic string. The bubble is assumed to be much…
A granular system confined in a quasi two-dimensional box that is vertically vibrated can transit to an absorbing state in which all particles bounce vertically in phase with the box, with no horizontal motion. In principle, this state can…
The behavior of the gravitating vacuum energy density in an expanding universe is discussed. A scenario is presented with a step-wise relaxation of the vacuum energy density. The vacuum energy density moves from plateau to plateau and…
Decaying vacuum cosmological models evolving smoothly between two extreme (very early and late time) de Sitter phases are capable to solve or at least to alleviate some cosmological puzzles, among them: (i) the singularity, (ii) horizon,…
The false vacuum is a metastable state that can occur in quantum field theory, and its decay was first studied semi-classically by Coleman. In this work we consider the 1+1 dimensional $\varphi^4$ theory, which is the simplest model that…
A novel theoretical model for bubble dynamics is established that simultaneously accounts for the liquid compressibility, phase transition, oscillation, migration, ambient flow field, etc. The bubble dynamics equations are presented in a…
The valley structure associated with quantum meta-stability is examined. It is defined by the new valley equation, which enables consistent evaluation of the imaginary-time path-integral. We study the structure of this new valley equation…
Nucleation and growth is the dominant relaxation mechanism driving first order phase transitions. In two-dimensional at systems nucleation has been applied to a wide range of problems in physics, chemistry and biology. Here we study…
The rate and manner of vacuum decay are calculated in an explicit flux compactification, including all thick-wall and gravitational effects. For landscapes built of many units of a single flux, the fastest decay is usually to discharge just…
We present a new cosmological model of the Universe based on the two discoveries: 1. cosmological constant is very small, and 2. Nature shows a new law in physics called "Multiple Point Principle" (MPP). The MPP predicts the two degenerate…
First order phase transitions are characterized by the nucleation and evolution of bubbles. The dynamics of cosmological vacuum bubbles, where the order parameter is independent of other degrees of freedom, are well known; more realistic…
Vacuum compactifications may suffer from instabilities under small perturbations or tunnel effects; both are difficult to analyze. In this paper we consider the issue from a higher-dimensional perspective. We first look at how stability…
In gravitational theories with extra dimensions, it is argued that the existence of a positive vacuum energy generically implies catastrophic instability of our four-dimensional world. The most generic instability is a decompactification…
The experimental data, as well as theoretical considerations allow (and, in some cases, require) the Universe at present to rest in a false vacuum, whose approximate stability imposes constraints on the model parameters. Under very general…
In this talk, we discuss the possibility that the vacuum is dynamically determined in the history of the universe. The point is that some of the bubbles with a certain vacuum shrink by the evolution of the universe via gravity and may…