Related papers: String-induced vacuum decay and its gravitational …
We discuss the notion that quantum fields may induce an effective time-dependent cosmological constant which decays from a large initial value. It is shown that such cosmological models are viable in a non-de Sitter spacetime.
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…
False vacuum states are metastable in quantum field theories, and true vacuum bubbles can be nucleated due to the quantum tunneling effect. It was recently suggested that an evaporating black hole (BH) can be a catalyst of bubble…
Cosmic strings are topological defects possibly formed in the early Universe, which may be observable due to their gravitational effects on the cosmic microwave background radiation or gravitational wave experiments. To this effect it is…
Cosmic strings are predicted in various extensions of the Standard Model, including grand unified theories. Depending on the symmetry-breaking pattern, they can be either topologically stable or metastable. Intriguingly, metastable strings…
We consider the question of asymptotic observables in cosmology. We assume that string theory contains a landscape of vacua, and that metastable de Sitter regions can decay to zero cosmological constant by bubble nucleation. The asymptotic…
The field equations for a time dependent cylindrical cosmic string coupled to gravity are reformulated in terms of geometrical variables defined on a 2+1-dimensional spacetime by using the method of Geroch decomposition. Unlike the…
We show that stable local cosmic strings are a generic prediction of supersymmetric models where supersymmetry is broken at scales within a few orders of magnitude of the weak scale and is fed down to the observable sector by gauge…
We point out that the (pseudo-)conformal Universe scenario may be realized as decay of conformally invariant, metastable vacuum, which proceeds via spontaneous nucleation and subsequent growth of a bubble of a putative new phase. We study…
We present a systematic and unifying treatment of the problem of spontaneous nucleation of particle-antiparticle pairs in a (2+1)-dimensional system due to a static and uniform electromagnetic-like field, in the presence of quantum…
Constructing an explicit compactification yielding a metastable de Sitter (dS) vacuum in a UV consistent string theory is an incredibly difficult open problem. Motivated by this issue, as well as the conjecture that all non-supersymmetric…
A method to determine the quantum state of a scalar field after $O(4)$-symmetric bubble nucleation has been developed recently. The method has an advantage that it concisely gives us a clear picture of the resultant quantum state. In…
It is well-known that some physical effects may arise in the spacetime of a straigth cosmic string due to its global conic properties. Among these effects, the vacuum polarization effect has been extensively studied in the litterature. In…
We propose a novel mechanism in which an external oscillatory wave modulates the mass-squared term of a scalar potential, periodically switching its sign. As a result of this "potential oscillation," the vacuum transitions between…
Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that form whenever phase transitions in the early universe break axial symmetries as originally shown by Kibble. They are the result of frustrated order in the quantum fields responsible…
Gravitational field of cosmic strings in theories with extra spatial dimensions must differ significantly from that in the Einstein's theory. This means that all gravity induced properties of cosmic strings need to be revised too. Here we…
Gravitational waves from cosmic strings are generated in the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, potentially providing a unprecedented probe of the early universe. We discuss the key dynamical processes underlying calculations…
The relativistic charged spinor matter field is quantized in the background of a straight cosmic string with nonvanishing transverse size. The most general boundary conditions ensuring the impossibility for matter to penetrate through the…
This is a short review on strings in curved spacetimes. We start by recalling the classical and quantum string behaviour in singular plane waves backgrounds. We then report on the string behaviour in cosmological spacetimes (FRW, de Sitter,…
In this paper we consider a charged massless scalar quantum field operator in the spacetime of an idealized cosmic string, i.e., an infinitely long, straight and static cosmic string, which presents a magnetic field confined in a…