Related papers: Pseudo-Bounces vs. New Instantons

We study the fate of a false vacuum in the case of a potential that contains a portion which is quartic and unbounded. We first prove that an $O(4)$ invariant instanton with the Coleman boundary conditions does not exist in this case. This,…

We show that instanton effects may play a crucial role in the decay of scalar mesons into two pseudoscalars. Particularly the branching ratios of two meson decays of the $f_0(1500)$, which is considered as a glue-ball candidate, are then…

We describe a new method which allows one to evaluate the false vacuum decay rate for a general potential which may depend on an arbitrary number of scalar fields.

In this work we show a class of oscillating configurations for the evolution of the domain walls in Euclidean space. The solutions are obtained analytically. Phase transitions are achieved from the associated fluctuation determinant, by the…

Quantum decay of a relativistic scalar field from a false vacuum is a fundamental idea in quantum field theory. It is relevant to models of the early Universe, where the nucleation of bubbles gives rise to an inflationary universe and the…

False vacuum decay in quantum mechanical first order phase transitions is a phenomenon with wide implications in cosmology, and presents interesting theoretical challenges. In the standard approach, it is assumed that false vacuum decay…

We describe a new family of thin-wall instantons, with negative tension bubble walls, that mediate tunneling between Minkowski or de Sitter vacua. Some of these instantons can have exponentially enhanced tunneling rates, and would dominate…

The decay of a bound state weakly-coupled to a non-Hermitian tight-binding unstable continuum, i.e. a continuum of states comprising energies with positive imaginary part, is theoretically investigated. As compared to quantum decay in an…

We provide a novel, concise and self-contained evaluation of true- and false vacuum decay rates in general relativity. We insist on general covariance and choose observable boundary conditions, which yields the well known false-vacuum decay…

Quasiclassical methods are used to define dynamical tunneling times in models of quantum cosmological bounces. These methods provide relevant new information compared with the traditional treatment of quantum tunneling by means of tunneling…

We develop semiclassical methods for studying bubble nucleation in models with parameters that vary slowly in time. Introducing a more general rotation of the time contour allows access to a larger set of final states, and typically a…

There is a single negative mode in the spectrum of small perturbations about the tunneling solutions describing a metastable vacuum decay in flat spacetime. This mode is needed for consistent description of decay processes. When gravity is…

We study a gauge theory model where there is an intermediate symmetry breaking to a meta- stable vacuum that breaks a simple gauge group to a U (1) factor. Such models admit the existence of meta-stable magnetic monopoles, which we dub…

False vacuum decay in field theory may be formulated as a boundary value problem in Euclidean space. In a previous work, we studied its solution in single scalar field theories with quadratic gravity and used it to find obstructions to…

We analyze vacuum tunneling in quantum field theory in a general formalism by using the Wigner representation. In the standard instanton formalism, one usually approximates the initial false vacuum state by an eigenstate of the field…

Solitosynthesis of Q-balls in the false vacuum can result in a phase transition of a new kind. Formation and subsequent growth of Q-balls via the charge accretion proceeds until the solitons reach a critical charge, at which point it…

We propose two new classes of instantons which describe the tunneling and/or quantum creation of closed and open universes. The instantons leading to an open universe can be considered as generalizations of the Coleman-De-Luccia solution.…

We study the negative modes of gravitational instantons representing vacuum decay in asymptotically flat space-time. We consider two different vacuum decay scenarios: the Coleman-de Luccia $\mathrm{O}(4)$-symmetric bubble, and…

We study the Euclidean bounce action interpolating between a false and a true vacuum for a scalar field theory with various types of potential. We focus on the cases of a triangular, a square and a quadratic barrier, where the bounce action…

We develop a new iterative method for finding approximate solutions for spherical bounces associated with the decay of the false vacuum in scalar field theories. The method works for any generic potential in any number of dimensions,…