Fate of false vacuum in non-perturbative regimes: Gravity effects
A recent analysis of the false-vacuum decay in non-perturbative regimes is here extended in the presence of Einstein gravity, computing the corresponding effective potential and decay rate. We consider a λϕ4 scalar field theory and we observe that, in comparison to the usual perturbative decay rate, the higher the coupling λ, the greater the decay probability. We evaluate the running of the self-interaction coupling and obtain a weakly coupled theory at lower energies, proving that Einstein gravity grants an even more reliable weak coupling approximation with the universe cooling down. We also provide an extended study of a non-minimal coupling ξ of the scalar field with gravity showing how this term makes the false-vacuum decay more difficult. Minima can also disappear at large coupling ξ. We discuss possible applications of these results to cosmological phase transitions, gravitational-wave astronomy, and condensed matter systems.
展开 ▾非微扰区域中假真空的命运:引力效应 · 论文在爱因斯坦引力下计算非微扰假真空衰变的有效势和衰变率,发现耦合越强衰变概率越大,引力使弱耦合近似更可靠,非最小耦合则使衰变更困难。
预印本 2022-06-20 · 刊出 2025-12-02 · 收录 2026-08-22