Related papers: Vacuum selection by recollapsing
In this talk, we discuss the possibility that the vacuum is dynamically determined in the history of the universe. The point is that some of the bubbles with a certain vacuum shrink by the evolution of the universe via gravity and may…
Quantum physics at scales large compared to the Planck scale is described in the framework of classical space-time geometries. A criterion for selecting these backgrounds out of quantized gravity is proposed. It leads to an instability of…
We re-examine the problem of vacuum decay in the presence of spherically symmetric black holes. Within the semiclassical approximation, we study configurations describing a bubble of true vacuum propagating outside a black hole formed from…
In flat space and at finite temperature, there are two regimes of false vacuum decay in quantum field theory. At low temperature, the decay proceeds through thermally-assisted tunneling described by periodic Euclidean solutions -- bounces…
In light of recent evidence suggesting a nonzero present-day cosmological constant, Adams, Mbonye, & Laughlin (1999) have considered the evolution of black holes in the presence of vacuum energy. Using the assumption that Lambda remains…
We show that dark matter with certain minimal properties can convert the majority of baryons in galaxies to black holes over hundred trillion year timescales. We argue that this has implications for cosmologies which propose that new…
The evidence for a positive vacuum energy in our universe suggests that we might be living in a false vacuum destined to ultimately decay to a true vacuum free of dark energy. At present the simplest example of such a universe is one that…
The Hawking evaporation of primordial black holes (PBH) reheats the Universe locally, forming hot spots that survive throughout their lifetime. We propose to use the temperature profile of such hot spots to calculate the decay rate of…
Vacuum bubbles may nucleate during the inflationary epoch and expand, reaching relativistic speeds. After inflation ends, the bubbles are quickly slowed down, transferring their momentum to a shock wave that propagates outwards in the…
Taking seriously the interpretation of black hole entropy as the logarithm of the number of microstates, we argue that thermal gravitons may undergo a phase transition to a kind of black hole condensate. The phase transition proceeds via…
If a theory has more than one classically stable vacuum, quantum tunneling and thermal jumps make the transition between the vacua possible. The transition happens through a first order phase transition started by nucleation of a bubble of…
We study how the hot Universe evolves and acquires the prevailing vacuum state, demonstrating that in specific conditions which are believed to apply, the Universe becomes frozen into the state with the smallest value of Higgs vacuum field…
We explore possible effects of vacuum energy on the evolution of black holes. If the universe contains a cosmological constant, and if black holes can absorb energy from the vacuum, then black hole evaporation could be greatly suppressed.…
We consider the early universe at temperatures close to the fundamental scale of gravity (M_D << M_Planck) in models with extra dimensions. At such temperatures a small fraction of particles will experience transplanckian collisions that…
If TeV-scale gravity describes nature, black holes will be produced in particle accelerators, perhaps even with impressive rates at the Large Hadron Collider. Their decays, largely via the Hawking process, will be spectacular. Black holes…
Phase transitions are part of everyday life, yet are also believed to be part of the history of our universe, where the nature of particle interactions change as the universe settles into its vacuum state. The discovery of the Higgs, and…
We discuss whether black holes could persist in a universe which recollapses and then bounces into a new expansion phase. Whether the bounce is of classical or quantum gravitational origin, such cosmological models are of great current…
In the early universe, evaporating black holes heat up the surrounding plasma and create a temperature profile around the black hole that can be more important than the black hole itself. As an example, we demonstrate how the hot plasma…
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…
It was recently demonstrated that small small black holes can act as seeds for nucleating decay of the metastable Higgs vacuum, dramatically increasing the tunneling probability. Any primordial black hole lighter than $4.5 \times 10^{14}$g…