Related papers: Analytic false-vacuum decay rate in the thin-wall …
Interacting massive fields with m > d H/2 in d+1 dimensional de Sitter space are fundamentally unstable. Scalar fields in this mass range can decay to themselves. This process (which is kinematically forbidden in Minkowski space) can lead…
In $N+1$ dimensions, false vacuum decay at zero temperature is dominated by the $O(N+1)$ symmetric instanton, a sphere of radius $R_0$, whereas at temperatures $T>>R_0^{-1}$, the decay is dominated by a `cylindrical' (static) $O(N)$…
We study analytically and numerically the decay of a metastable phase in (2+1)-dimensional classical scalar field theory coupled to a heat bath, which is equivalent to two-dimensional Euclidean quantum field theory at zero temperature. By a…
The Euclidean bounce for vacuum decay enjoys an $O(4)$ symmetry that is lost in the presence of impurities than can catalyze the decay. We present a formulation for the calculation of the tunneling decay action, that is explicitly positive…
If the universe is trapped and cooled in a metastable false vacuum state, that state will eventually decay by bubble nucleation and expansion. For example, many extensions of the standard model incorporate new scalar fields whose potential…
In the decay process of metastable vacua in quantum field theories, the bounce solution, a classical solution in Euclideanized theories, is helpful in calculating the decay rate. Recently, the bounce solution with a conical singularity has…
Coleman and De Luccia (CDL) showed that gravitational effects can prevent the decay by bubble nucleation of a Minkowski or AdS false vacuum. In their thin-wall approximation this happens whenever the surface tension in the bubble wall…
Membrane nucleation, a higher dimensional analog of the Schwinger effect, is a useful toy model for vacuum decay. While a non-perturbative effect, the computation of nucleation rates has only been accomplished at weak coupling in the field…
In quantum field theory (QFT), the "vacuum" is not just empty space but the lowest-energy state of a quantum field. If the energy landscape has multiple local minima, the local ground states are the false vacuum (FV) which can tunnel…
The mean square fluctuation and the expectation value of the stress-energy-momentum tensor of a neutral massive scalar field at finite temperature are determined near an infinite plane Dirichlet wall, and also near an infinite plane Neumann…
In this work we study vacuum decay and bubble nucleation in models of $f(R)$ higher curvature gravity. Building upon the analysis of Coleman-De Luccia (CDL), we present the formalism to calculate the Euclidean action and the bounce solution…
The Standard Model Higgs potential may become unbounded from below at large field values, with important cosmological implications. For a potential of this form, the commonly assumed scenario of a nucleated thin-wall bubble driving the…
We extend our previous results of simplified expressions for functional determinants for radial Schr\"odinger operators to the computation of vacuum energy, or mass corrections, for static but spatially radial backgrounds, and for domain…
The false vacuum decay in field theory from a coherently oscillating initial state is studied for $\phi^6$ potential. An oscillating bubble solution is obtained. The instantaneous bubble nucleation rate is calculated.
Let $n\geq 3$, $0< m<\frac{n-2}{n}$ and $T>0$. We construct positive solutions to the fast diffusion equation $u_t=\Delta u^m$ in $\mathbb{R}^n\times(0,T)$, which vanish at time $T$. By introducing a scaling parameter $\beta$ inspired by…
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 study vacuum stability in 1+1 dimensional Conformal Field Theories with external background fields. We show that the vacuum decay rate is given by a non-local two-form. This two-form is a boundary term that must be added to the effective…
Recently, a novel phenomenon is observed for vacuum decay to proceed via classically allowed dynamical evolution from initial configurations of false vacuum fluctuations. With the help of some occasionally developed large fluctuations in…
We determine the scaling properties of the Yang-Lee edge singularity as described by a one-component scalar field theory with imaginary cubic coupling, using the nonperturbative functional renormalization group in $3 \leq d\leq 6$ Euclidean…
We present a study of the decay of metastable states of a scalar field via thermal activation, in the presence of a finite density of fermions. The process we consider is the nucleation of ``{\it droplets}'' of true vacuum inside the false…