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Real-time dynamics of false vacuum decay

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arxiv 2310.04206 v2 pith:DTRE37WD submitted 2023-10-06 hep-th astro-ph.COgr-qchep-phquant-ph

classification hep-thastro-ph.COgr-qchep-phquant-ph
keywords decayquantumfieldtimevacuumclassical-statisticaldemonstratedynamics
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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We investigate false vacuum decay of a relativistic scalar field initialized in the metastable minimum of an asymmetric double-well potential. The transition to the true ground state is a well-defined initial-value problem in real time, which can be formulated in nonequilibrium quantum field theory on a closed time path. We employ the non-perturbative framework of the two-particle irreducible (2PI) quantum effective action at next-to-leading order in a large-N expansion. We also compare to classical-statistical field theory simulations on a lattice in the high-temperature regime. By this, we demonstrate that the real-time decay rates are comparable to those obtained from the conventional Euclidean (bounce) approach. In general, we find that the decay rates are time dependent. For a more comprehensive description of the dynamics, we extract a time-dependent effective potential, which becomes convex during the nonequilibrium transition process. By solving the quantum evolution equations for the one- and two-point correlation functions for vacuum initial conditions, we demonstrate that quantum corrections can lead to transitions that are not captured by classical-statistical approximations.

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Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Quantum field nucleating and Wigner functions

    hep-th 2026-07 conditional novelty 7.5 of 10

    The one-loop over-the-barrier nucleation rate in a thermal QFT is Affleck’s formula generalized to fields, not Linde’s, and still carries quantum prefactor effects even when the bounce is classically symmetric.

  2. Dynamics of nucleation in thermal phase transitions

    hep-th 2026-07 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    The thermal nucleation rate is the transition-state estimate multiplied by one minus the re-crossing probability, and oscillons make that correction large.

  3. False vacuum decay in long-range interacting quantum systems

    quant-ph 2026-07 accept novelty 7.0 of 10

    In long-range Ising chains the false-vacuum bounce action scales as B∼h^{-1/σ} for σ<1 and recovers Coleman B∼h^{-1} (plus h^{σ-2} corrections) for 1<σ<2, with algebraic tails that leave the leading exponents intact.

  4. Langer's nucleation rate reproduced on the lattice

    hep-ph 2025-05 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    With a new gradient-descent definition of the metastable phase, lattice simulations reproduce Langer's nucleation rate for the first time in a conservative system.

  5. Consistent Thermal Resummation and Phase Transitions with 2PI Methods

    hep-ph 2026-08 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    A 2PI-Hartree effective potential for two mixing scalars is renormalized and used to show that self-consistent thermal resummation can substantially alter predicted phase transition strengths and gravitational wave spectra.

  6. Analogue gravity with Bose-Einstein condensates

    gr-qc 2025-12 conditional novelty 2.0 of 10

    Phonons in a Bose–Einstein condensate behave as a massless scalar field on an acoustic spacetime; these notes derive that mapping in detail and apply it to superradiance and analogue Hawking radiation.

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