Related papers: Real-time dynamics of false vacuum decay
We consider classical Minkowskian solutions to the field equation in the (1+1) dimensional scalar model with the exponential interaction that describe the unsuppressed false vacuum decay induced by $n$ initial particles. We find that there…
We investigate a cosmological model in which dark energy identified with the vacuum energy which is running and decaying. In this model vacuum is metastable and decays into a bare (true) vacuum. This decaying process has a quantum nature…
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics can provide strong advantages when compared to more standard equilibrium situations. Here, we present a general framework to study its application to concrete problems, which is valid also beyond the…
We study false vacuum decay for a gauged complex scalar field in a polynomial potential with nearly degenerate minima. Radiative corrections to the profile of the nucleated bubble as well as the full decay rate are computed in the planar…
Thermalisation of configurations with initial white noise power spectrum is studied in numerical simulations of a classical one-component $\Phi^4$ theory in 2+1 dimensions, coupled to a small amplitude homogenous external field. The study…
A mechanism describing state reduction dynamics in relativistic quantum field theory is outlined. The mechanism involves nonlinear stochastic modifications to the standard description of unitary state evolution and the introduction of a…
The time evolution of O(N) symmetric lambda Phi^4 scalar field theory is studied in the large N limit. In this limit the <Phi> mean field and two-point correlation function <Phi Phi> evolve together as a self-consistent closed Hamiltonian…
We consider the decay of "false kinks," that is, kinks formed in a scalar field theory with a pair of degenerate symmetry-breaking false vacua in 1+1 dimensions. The true vacuum is symmetric. A second scalar field and a peculiar potential…
We revisit the formalism for tunneling in quantum field theory developed by Coleman and collaborators. In particular using the generalization of WKB methods for tunneling in quantum mechanics we avoid the problems with negative eigenvalues…
Calculations of nonequilibrium processes become increasingly feasable in quantum field theory from first principles. There has been important progress in our analytical understanding based on 2PI generating functionals. In addition, for the…
We compute the nonequilibrium real-time evolution of an O(N)-symmetric scalar quantum field theory from a systematic 1/N expansion of the 2PI effective action to next-to-leading order, which includes scattering and memory effects. In…
We propose a simple non-perturbative formalism for false vacuum decay using functional methods. We introduce the quasi-stationary effective action, a bounce action that non-perturbatively incorporates radiative corrections and is robust to…
We treat the effects of quantum field fluctuations on the decay of a meta-stable state of a self-coupled scalar field. We consider two varieties of field fluctuations and their potential effects in a semiclassical description. The first are…
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…
We study the real-time evolution of a self-interacting O(N) scalar field initially prepared in a pure quantum state. We present a complete solution of the nonequilibrium quantum dynamics from a 1/N-expansion of the two-particle-irreducible…
We investigate the decay rate of a false vacuum state in de Sitter space at high Hubble rates, using two methods: the Hawking-Moss instanton method which is fully quantum mechanical but relies on the saddle-point approximation, and the…
In terms of the de Broglie-Bohm pilot-wave formulation of quantum theory, we develop field-theoretical models of quantum nonequilibrium systems which could exist today as relics from the very early universe. We consider relic excited states…
A tunneling bounce driving the decay of a metastable vacuum must respect an integral constraint dictated by simple scaling arguments that is very useful to determine key properties of the bounce. After illustrating how this works in a…
The nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum fields is studied in inflationary cosmology, with particular emphasis on applications to the problem of post-inflation reheating. The Schwinger-Keldysh closed-time-path (CTP) formalism is utilized…
Consistent dynamics which couples classical and quantum degrees of freedom exists, provided it is stochastic. This dynamics is linear in the hybrid state, completely positive and trace preserving. One application of this is to study the…