Related papers: Vacuum decay in quantum field theory
In recent papers [1,2], it has been shown that the presence of negative norm states or negative frequency solutions are indispensable for a fully covariant quantization of the minimally coupled scalar field in de Sitter space. Their…
It has recently been conjectured that string theory does not admit de Sitter vacua, and that quintessence explains the current epoch of accelerated cosmic expansion. A proposed, key prediction of this scenario is time-varying couplings in…
Wigner's quasi-probability distribution function in phase-space is a special (Weyl) representation of the density matrix. It has been useful in describing quantum transport in quantum optics; nuclear physics; decoherence (eg, quantum…
This paper studies the decay of a large, closed domain wall in a closed universe. Such walls can form in the presence of a broken, discrete symmetry. We study a novel process of quantum decay for such a wall, in which the vacuum fluctuates…
We discuss the cosmological consequences of an interacting model in the dark sector in which the $\Lambda$ component evolves as a truncated power series of the Hubble parameter. In order to constrain the free parameters of the model we…
We argue that calculating vacuum energy requires quantum field theory whose axioms are adapted to curved spacetime. In this context, we suggest that non-zero vacuum energy is connected to dynamical breaking of electroweak symmetry. The…
Following a minisuperspace approach to the dynamics of a spherically symmetric shell, a reduced Lagrangian for the radial degree of freedom is derived directly from the Einstein-Hilbert action. The key feature of this new Lagrangian is its…
We discuss interacting quantum field theory in de Sitter space and argue that the Mottola-Allen vacuum ambiguity is an artifact of free field theory. The nature of the nonthermality of the MA-vacua is also clarified. We propose analyticity…
In an effective Lagrangian approach to QCD we nonperturbatively calculate an analytic approximation to the decay rate of a false vacuum per unit volume, $\Gamma/V$. We do so for both zero and high temperature theories. This result is…
We reformulate the problem of the cancellation of the ultraviolet divergencies of the vacuum energy, particularly important at the cosmological level, in terms of a saturation of spectral function sum rules which leads to a set of…
Moving detectors in relativistic quantum field theories reveal the fundamental entangled structure of the vacuum which manifests, for instance, through its thermal character when probed by a uniformly accelerated detector. In this paper, we…
Vacuum energies are computed in light-cone field theories to obtain effective potentials which determine vacuum condensate. Quantization surfaces interpolating between the light-like surface and the usual spatial one are useful to define…
Particle-antiparticle pairs are predicted by quantum field theory to appear as vacuum fluctuations. The model of the vacuum used here is postulated to have the following properties: To minimize the violation of conservation energy allowed…
We discuss here phase transitions in quantum field theory in the context of vacuum realignment through an explicit construction. Vacuum destabilisation may occur through a scalar attaining a nonzero expectation value, or through a…
Quantum measurements can inject energy into quantum systems, enabling engines whose operation is powered entirely by measurements. We develop a general theory of quantum vacuum measurement engines by introducing the quantum vacuum bending…
We provide a derivation for the particle number densities on phase space for scalar and fermionic fields in terms of Wigner functions. Our expressions satisfy the desired properties: for bosons the particle number is positive, for fermions…
The time evolution of a quantum wave packet in the linear gravity potential is known as Quantum Bouncing Ball. The qBounce collaboration recently observed such a system by dropping wave packets of ultracold neutrons by a height of roughly…
Using Schwinger's quantum action principle, dispersion relations are obtained for neutral scalar mesons interacting with bi-local sources. These relations are used as the basis of a method for representing the effect of interactions in the…
In a series of recent papers Kaloper and Padilla proposed a mechanism to sequester standard model vacuum contributions to the cosmological constant. We study the consequences of embedding their proposal into a fully local quantum theory. In…
We consider the process of decay of symmetric vacuum state as evaporation of a Bose condensate of physical Higgs particles, defined over asymmetric vacuum state. Energy density of their selfinteraction is identified with cosmological…