Related papers: Vacuum Decay in General Relativity
We present a calculation of the decay rate of the electroweak vacuum, fully including all gravitational effects and a possible non-minimal Higgs-curvature coupling $\xi$, and using the three-loop Standard Model effective potential. Without…
We investigate a novel interplay between the decay and annihilation of a particle whose mass undergoes a large shift during a first order phase transition, leading to the particles becoming trapped in the false vacuum and enhancing their…
We propose a revised formulation of General Relativity for cosmological settings, in which the Einstein constant varies with the energy density of the Universe. We demonstrate that this modification has only phenomenological impact of…
While the simple picture of a spatially flat, matter plus cosmological constant universe fits current observation of the accelerated expansion, strong consideration has also been given to models with dynamical vacuum energy. We examine the…
We propose that the size of the universe and its rate of expansion cannot be simultaneously specified with arbitrary precision, a quantum mechanical statement encoded in a deformed commutation relation for the scale factor. The deformation…
It is shown that if - and only if - ``parallel universes'' exist, an electroweak vacuum that is expected to have decayed since the big bang with a high probability might exist. It would neither necessarily render our existence unlikely nor…
We use analytic estimates and numerical simulations to explore the stochastic approach to vacuum decay. According to this approach, the time derivative of a scalar field, which is in a local vacuum state, develops a large fluctuation and…
We present a simple and intuitive description of both, the Schwinger effect and false vacuum decay through bubble nucleation, as tunneling problems in one-dimensional relativistic quantum mechanics. Both problems can be described by an…
We have found exact constant solutions for the cosmological density parameter using a generalization of general relativity that incorporates a cosmic time-variation of the velocity of light in vacuum and the Newtonian gravitation constant.…
We consider a generalization of Einstein's general theory of relativity such that it respects local scale invariance. This requires the introduction of a scalar and a vector field in the action. We show that the theory naturally displays…
The probability of destruction of a metastable vacuum state by the field of a highly virtual particle with energy $E$ is calculated for a (3+1) dimensional theory in the leading WKB approximation in the thin-wall limit. It is found that the…
The speed of light in vacuum, one of the most important and precisely measured natural constants, is fixed by convention to $c=299 792 458$ m/s. Advanced theories predict possible deviations from this universal value, or even quantum…
Relativity and quantum mechanics are generalized by considering a finite limit for the smallest measurable distance. The value a of this quantum of length is unknown, but it is a universal constant, like c and h. It depends on the total…
Following the spirit of the equivalence principle, we take a step further to recognize the free fall of the observer as a method to eliminate causes that would lead the perceived vacuum to change its original state. Thus, it is expected…
Following fresh attempts to resolve the problem of the energy density of the vacuum, we reconsider the case where the cosmological constant is derived from a higher-dimensional version of general relativity, and interpret the…
We explore two hypotheses. First, the possibility that the quantum vacuum energy density of the Casimir effect contributes to a (local) gravitational vacuum energy density. Second, the possibility that a change in the gravitational coupling…
Analog condensed matter systems present an exciting opportunity to simulate early Universe models in table-top experiments. We consider a recent proposal for an analog condensed matter experiment to simulate the relativistic quantum decay…
Employing alternative spacetime volume-forms (generally-covariant integration measure densities) independent of the pertinent Riemannian spacetime metric have profound impact in general relativity. Although formally appearing as…
Introducing such a notion as a "excitation of physical vacuum" we do an attempt to explain some strange experimental facts such as large value of $\sigma$-term measured in pion-nucleon low energy scattering, $\Delta T=1/2$ rule in kaon two…
The necessary and sufficient condition for the false vacuum decay in a de Sitter universe via Coleman - de Luccia instanton is applied on the scalar field with quasi - exponential potential.