Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spaces

Abstract We study the decay of the false vacuum in the regime where the quantum field theory analysis is not valid, since gravitational effects become important. This happens when the height of the barrier separating the false and the true vacuum is large, and it has implications for the instability...

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Main Authors: Viatcheslav F. Mukhanov, Yaron Oz, Alexander S. Sorin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-11-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2024)021
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author Viatcheslav F. Mukhanov
Yaron Oz
Alexander S. Sorin
author_facet Viatcheslav F. Mukhanov
Yaron Oz
Alexander S. Sorin
author_sort Viatcheslav F. Mukhanov
collection DOAJ
description Abstract We study the decay of the false vacuum in the regime where the quantum field theory analysis is not valid, since gravitational effects become important. This happens when the height of the barrier separating the false and the true vacuum is large, and it has implications for the instability of de Sitter, Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua. We carry out the calculations for a scalar field with a potential coupled to gravity, and work within the thin-wall approximation, where the bubble wall is thin compared to the size of the bubble. We show that the false de Sitter vacuum is unstable, independently of the height of the potential and the relative depth of the true vacuum compared to the false vacuum. The false Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua can be stable despite the existence of a lower energy true vacuum. However, when the relative depth of the true and false vacua exceeds a critical value, which depends on the potential of the false vacuum and the height of the barrier, then the false Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua become unstable. We calculate the probability for the decay of the false de Sitter, Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua, as a function of the parameters characterizing the field potential.
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spelling doaj-art-5a3efb48729f4c47a1ebd1d1b9eeae3c2024-12-08T12:08:33ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792024-11-0120241111810.1007/JHEP11(2024)021Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spacesViatcheslav F. Mukhanov0Yaron Oz1Alexander S. Sorin2Ludwig Maximilian UniversitySchool of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv UniversityCenter for Quantum Science and Technology, Tel-Aviv UniversityAbstract We study the decay of the false vacuum in the regime where the quantum field theory analysis is not valid, since gravitational effects become important. This happens when the height of the barrier separating the false and the true vacuum is large, and it has implications for the instability of de Sitter, Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua. We carry out the calculations for a scalar field with a potential coupled to gravity, and work within the thin-wall approximation, where the bubble wall is thin compared to the size of the bubble. We show that the false de Sitter vacuum is unstable, independently of the height of the potential and the relative depth of the true vacuum compared to the false vacuum. The false Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua can be stable despite the existence of a lower energy true vacuum. However, when the relative depth of the true and false vacua exceeds a critical value, which depends on the potential of the false vacuum and the height of the barrier, then the false Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua become unstable. We calculate the probability for the decay of the false de Sitter, Minkowski and anti-de Sitter vacua, as a function of the parameters characterizing the field potential.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2024)021Nonperturbative EffectsSolitons Monopoles and InstantonsClassical Theories of Gravityde Sitter space
spellingShingle Viatcheslav F. Mukhanov
Yaron Oz
Alexander S. Sorin
Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spaces
Journal of High Energy Physics
Nonperturbative Effects
Solitons Monopoles and Instantons
Classical Theories of Gravity
de Sitter space
title Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spaces
title_full Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spaces
title_fullStr Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spaces
title_full_unstemmed Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spaces
title_short Gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of dS, AdS and Minkowski spaces
title_sort gravitationally dominated instantons and instability of ds ads and minkowski spaces
topic Nonperturbative Effects
Solitons Monopoles and Instantons
Classical Theories of Gravity
de Sitter space
url https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2024)021
work_keys_str_mv AT viatcheslavfmukhanov gravitationallydominatedinstantonsandinstabilityofdsadsandminkowskispaces
AT yaronoz gravitationallydominatedinstantonsandinstabilityofdsadsandminkowskispaces
AT alexanderssorin gravitationallydominatedinstantonsandinstabilityofdsadsandminkowskispaces