Absence of resonant decay for metastable vacua in gauge theories of scalar fields

TL;DR

This paper proves that resonant decay cannot occur for metastable vacua in gauge theories with scalar fields, extending previous results from pure scalar theories.

Contribution

It establishes a no-go theorem showing the absence of resonant decay in gauge theories of scalar fields, broadening the understanding of vacuum stability.

Findings

Resonant decay is impossible in gauge theories with scalar fields.

The result generalizes a previous no-go theorem for pure scalar theories.

The proof extends the theoretical framework of vacuum decay analysis.

Abstract

We prove the impossibility of resonant decay of a metastable vacuum in a theory of a scalar field coupled to a gauge field. Our result extends to gauge theories of scalar fields a recent no go theorem for resonant tunneling in a pure scalar field theory.