Related papers: Negative mode problem in false vacuum decay with g…

Consistency of the unconventional view of de Sitter space as a quantum theory of gravity with a finite number of degrees of freedom requires that Coleman-De Luccia tunneling rates to vacua with negative cosmological constant should be…

The question of whether unobserved short-wavelength modes of the gravitational field can induce decoherence in the long-wavelength modes (``the decoherence of spacetime'') is addressed using a scalar field toy model with some features of…

For a large region of parameter space involving the cosmological constant and mass parameters, we discuss fluctuating spacetime solutions that are effectively Minkowskian on large time and distance scales. Rapid, small amplitude…

A metastable state, or a false vacuum, is not an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian in quantum field theory. Its energy density has a non-zero imaginary part equal to its decay width. Therefore, supersymmetry cannot be exact in the false vacuum.…

Whether the Standard Model electroweak vacuum is stable, metastable or unstable depends crucially on the top mass (and, to a lesser extent, on other measurable quantities). These topics are reviewed and updated by taking into account the…

We present new solutions of vacuum decay in non-Minkowski spacetimes. On a de Sitter background, the tunneling between vacuum states with a nonvanishing energy difference has been considered, whereas in the special case of degenerate vacua…

The decay rate of a false vacuum is studied in gauge theory, paying particular attention to its gauge invariance. Although the decay rate should not depend on the gauge parameter $\xi$ according to the Nielsen identity, the gauge invariance…

The existence of instantonic decay modes would indicate a semi-classical instability of the vacua of ten and eleven dimensional supergravity theories. Decay modes whose spin structures are incompatible with those of supersymmetric vacua…

The formation of black holes or naked singularities is studied in a model in which a homogeneous time-dependent scalar field with an exponential potential couples to four dimensional gravity with negative cosmological constant. An analytic…

We investigate and classify the possible types of false vacuum bubbles in Einstein gravity. The false vacuum bubbles can occur only if gravity is taken into account. We show that there exist solutions only with compact geometries. The…

In quantum field theory, the decay of an extended metastable state into the real ground state is known as ``false vacuum decay'' and it takes place via the nucleation of spatially localized bubbles. Despite the large theoretical effort to…

For higher-derivative f(R) gravity where R is the Ricci scalar, a class of models is proposed which produce viable cosmology different from the LambdaCDM one at recent times and satisfy cosmological, Solar system and laboratory tests. These…

In the present work we revisit a model consisting of a scalar field with a quartic self-interaction potential non-minimally (conformally) coupled to gravity [1]. When the scalar field vacuum is in a broken symmetry state, an effective…

We propose a natural solution to the cosmological constant problem consistent with the standard cosmology and successful over a broad range of energies. This solution is based on the existence of a new field, the devaluton, with its…

Sub-horizon perturbations in scalar-tensor theories have been shown to grow generically faster than in uncoupled models due to a positive, additive Yukawa force. In such cases, the amount of clustering becomes larger than in the standard…

This article begins by putting forth a model that shows how the storage and retrieval of information on a wave function that involves quantum entanglement behaves similarly to the concepts of length contraction and time dilation,…

The use of techniques from loop quantum gravity for cosmological models may solve some difficult problems in quantum cosmology. The solutions under a number of circumstances have been well studied. We will analyse the behaviour of solutions…

Temperature plays a crucial role in metastable phenomena, not only by contributing to determine the state (phase) of a system, but also ruling the decay probability to more stable states. Such a situation is encountered in many different…

Perturbation of gravitational fields may be decomposed into scalar,vector and tensor components.In this paper we concern with the evolution of tensor mode perturbations in a spatially closed deSitter background of RW form. It may be thought…

We study the decay rate of a false vacuum in gauge theory at the one-loop level. We pay particular attention to the case where the bounce consists of an arbitrary number of scalar fields. With a multi-field bounce, which has a curved…